


Reigniting the Ember

by LunarboundLunaria



Category: The Sims (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Glimmerbrook, Magic, Nonbinary Character, Original Character(s), Sage of Mischief, Sage of Practical Magic, Sage of Tamed Magic, Sage of Untamed Magic, Sims 4 Realm of Magic, The Sims 4, The Three Sages - Freeform, What Happened to the Sage of Untamed Magic?, realm of magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2020-10-18 16:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20642186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunarboundLunaria/pseuds/LunarboundLunaria
Summary: “This will either bring a new era to the Realm of Magic, or finally be the thing that tears it apart forever, and it’s all your doing, Morgyn.”





	1. Chapter 1

Morgyn had traveled far and wide to capture each town’s magic—in picture form, of course. Windenburg’s ruined castles, Sulani’s bright beaches, San Myshuno’s towering skyscrapers—Morgyn had seen it all and captured it all. Currently, their destination was a small, quiet town called Glimmerbrook. Nobody they knew had ever visited the town, and Glimmerbrook had only a handful of residents, making it the optimal area for nature photography. Camera in hand, Morgyn had set out to take pictures of the natural beauty of this place. They followed the river, snapping pictures of a waterfall, frogs, lily pads, the sunlight shining through the tree leaves, and anything else that caught their eye; however, they weren’t expecting what they found at the end of the river. Standing alone on a rock in the middle of the water was what looked to be a portal made of stone. Peculiar bright-colored flora sprouted around the portal as monarch butterflies danced from flower to flower. Within the stone arches of the portal was a shimmering rainbow-like essence. Morgyn had to do a double-take when they first saw the scene, and they fumbled with their camera to get a picture. Cautiously, Morgyn began walking towards the portal—almost as if it was pulling them towards it. They crossed the shallow waters and stood in front of the seemingly old portal. Morgyn snapped another picture of the stone floor that they stood on which had strange symbols etched into it. They then thought to themselves: What could lie on the other side of this portal? Was this even safe? Part of Morgyn wanted to turn around and leave this town forever, but another part, the natural curiosity of a photographer, wanted to get a glimpse (and a few pictures) of whatever was inside. Slowly, they put their hand through the portal and pulled it back out. Nothing bad happened. With the camera hanging from their neck, Morgyn took a deep breath and stepped through.

They walked out of the other side of the portal into what could only be described as a dreamland. The sky was a swirling mass of purple, black, and blue colors. Bits of stone, rock, and brick floated around in the sky, and floating high above where Morgyn stood was a slab of… earth? Well, they clearly weren’t on Earth any longer, so maybe rock would be a better term for it. Their green eyes fell to the view directly in front of them. A sprawling alley with vendors calling out to potential customers to buy their wares; one vendor called out, “Wands! Brooms! Everything a spellcaster needs can be bought here!” The residence of this realm held, apparently, wands in their hands and produced what looked to be sparks, or bright lights, from these wands. Some seemed to be practicing controlling these sparks and bright lights, others seemed to be dueling each other, and Morgyn’s mouth dropped when they watched someone climb on a broom and take off.

“Magic… this is real magic.” They blurted out loud, “It’s just like that book I read as a child… oh, right, camera, pictures.” Morgyn put their camera to their eye and began snapping pictures of this magical realm, staying near the portal in case anything bad happened and they needed a quick escape—which, they were contemplating doing after hearing some of the whispers from the residence of this realm.

“Is that a mortal?” 

“I believe so.”

“Mortals can’t see the portal. How did they get here?”

“They’re not welcome here.”

“We should tell the sages.”

Morgyn became painfully aware of the glances, glares, and stares that they were getting. The people began leaving the area, either going into their houses or flying away on their brooms. A mother quickly dragged her child out of Morgyn’s sight. It was clear that they were not welcome here. Putting the camera strap around their neck again, Morgyn turned to head back through the portal; however, a woman stopped them by teleporting directly between them and the portal. Morgyn jumped at her sudden appearance and stared at her in shock. Her skin was pale white contrasting her darker makeup, her braids where a mixture of black, green, and light green colors and her face had small black stars and moons painted on it. She placed her hands together, tapping her fingers together as she stared at Morgyn, who was frozen solid either from her literally teleporting in front of them or from her beautiful appearance. Her eyes looked Morgyn up and down, and it felt like she was looking into them, into their soul. Finally, after what felt like forever, she gave them a coy smile.

“Come.” Is all she said as she began walking away from Morgyn and the portal. Morgyn stood still, unsure if they should follow her or dive into the portal and be away from this realm, but it quickly became apparent that the decision was not theirs to make as she turned around, pointing at them. “I said,” She curled her finger towards herself in a beckoning motion, “Come.” With that command, it felt like something behind Morgyn pushed them forwards. They stumbled, trying to get their footing, and when they finally became able to stand up straight again, they realized they were right behind this mysterious woman. She quickly turned her back to them and began walking once again, this time Morgyn followed close behind, knowing that escape was futile. They walked through the now vacant alley—even the vendors had closed shop—and were headed towards what looked like another portal. She walked through it without a moment’s hesitation, and Morgyn followed suit.

Once through, Morgyn realized they were on the floating slab above where the alley was. They continued following their… guide? Captor? Companion? Whatever or whoever she was, Morgyn followed her obediently out of fear; however, they could not help their wandering eyes which were unintentionally examining her backside. She wore a black, slim-fitting dress with red accents and a large slit up one leg. Morgyn couldn’t help but admire her figure—she was a wonderful mix of attractive and terrifying. Their eyes made their way up her body, which they then realized she had turned her head to look at them. They only could see half of her face, but she did not look pleased. Quickly, Morgyn averted their eyes to what they were walking towards a large mansion of some sorts.

Once inside the building, Morgyn marveled at the beauty of it. The walls were lined with bookshelves (it was a bookworm’s dream-come-true), each room held what looked like a large cauldron, and in the center of everything was an area where a large, circular slab of stone lay with the same symbols on it that was on the stone that the portal stood on. The hazy purples, blacks, and blues of outside shined inside through the stained-glass windows. Morgyn went to take a picture but found that they had somehow lost their camera.

“My camera! What happened to it? Where is it?” Morgyn exclaimed as they stopped following the woman and looked around on the white tiled floor for it.

“You mean this?” A sing-songy voiced asked, and Morgyn looked to where it came from. Another woman, this one chubbier than the one they were following, held the camera in her hands. Her skin was also pale white, and her short hair was bright pink. She gave Morgyn a wink as she tossed the camera into one of the cauldrons which produced a puff of black smoke that rose from the cauldron.

“Hey!” Morgyn shouted.

“Human instruments are forbidden in The Realm.” The woman they had been following stated.

“But that camera had pictures on it that I wanted to keep, it was mine—”

“The camera had pictures of The Realm, which is illegal. Furthermore, the instant you walked through that portal your property became my property. You became mine.”

“That’s not fair!” Morgyn blurted out, but that last sentence had sent a shiver up their spine and Morgyn began to wish that they hadn’t said anything in the first place.

“Silence!” She snapped, looking aggravated. “You are here because of my choosing. You are alive because of me. Don’t make me regret that decision.”

Morgyn bit back their reply, and managed a small, “Yes ma’am.” They became aware that these spellcasters could easily end their life if they so choose, so it was to their best interest to play nice.

“Áine dear, I love how commanding you are!” The pink-haired woman giggled, walking over to the two.

Áine was her name? Morgyn had so many questions, but before they got a chance to ask any of them, the pink-haired woman held her hand out to them.

“I’m L. Faba!” She smiled, “Sorry about your camera, but rules are rules. I’ve never met a mortal before, this is so wonderful.”

Morgyn smiled back, “I’m Morgyn, it’s nice to mee-AHH!” When they reached to shake her hand, a jolt of electricity went through their body. Morgyn shook their hand while L. giggled. “A joy buzzer? Isn’t that a human instrument?”

“A ‘joy buzzer’? I just used a weak form of ZipZap to pull a prank on ‘ya. I’m the Sage of Mischief for a reason!” L. said, still giggling at Morgyn’s misfortune.

“Sage of Mischief?” Morgyn questioned.

Áine, who was rubbing her temples, said with a sigh, “Yes. See, Morgyn, was it? The Realm of Magic is, as you could tell, being torn apart constantly in this void that it exists in. Spellcasters here would be doomed without us—the Three Sages. We keep this realm held together and bring order to chaos.”

“I personally bring mischief to chaos; it doesn’t really like it that much.”

“Three sages? Where’s the third?”

“He’s probably fixing something around here, like normal.” L. shrugged.

“He is probably fixing one of your messes you mean, L. But, yes, you should meet all of us. Evander! We have a new… pupil.”

“Pupil?” Morgyn asked, but their attention was turned to the stairs where an older man with dark brown skin and greying hair was walking down. Morgyn hadn’t noticed the stairs and had a sudden want to go up and see what was up there as well as see what the view was like up there.

“I’m sorry Áine, the herbs needed tending to.” He stated as he came over to the three of them. “Ah, and who is this mortal you have brought to us?”

“I’m Morgyn Ember,” Morgyn stated. This sage seemed more of an old soul than the other two. He had a calm, yet gloomy vibe to him.

“Morgyn eh? I am Evander Frey, Sage of Practical Magic.” He bowed as he spoke. “Although, I am uncertain how much longer I will hold this title.” He chucked, looking back up at Morgyn. “I am getting rather old, I believe my apprentice, Simeon Silversweater, shall soon take my place.”

“You’re more like the Sage of BORINGNESS.” L. sneered and began laughing at her own joke as the other two glared at her. Morgyn let a small smile slip across his lips—these three were like a misfit family of some kind.

“Then, Áine,” Morgyn said, letting her name cross their tongue, and liking the feeling of it, “What Sage are you?”

She turned towards them, “I am the Sage of Tamed Magic.” She said, looking proud at this fact.

“She is the sage that the spellcasters turn to for help and guidance,” Evander added.

“She’s the strongest of us all.” L. concluded.

“Stop, you’re embarrassing me.” She smiled at the compliments from the other two sages.

Unlike the smiles the three sages had, Morgyn had a look of dead seriousness on them. They asked the one question that they needed to know, but also scared them silly, “Why am I here? ” All three sages turned towards them.

“You are here because of an accident, but it isn’t a bad accident, quite the contrary. I have been waiting for a mortal who can see the portal to this realm.” Áine answered, and continued talking as she walked to the middle of the room, standing on one of the symbols on the rug. The other two sages followed her. “We spellcasters were pushed away by mortals after signing what we thought was a peace treaty. We were forced to go into hiding in this realm, a realm which began to destabilize once we began living here. Nowadays, we barely know anything about mortals, as we are fearful of traveling to their world and living amongst them. Glimmerbrook is as far as my kind has set foot in your realm, some spellcasters have made it their home, and hide when mortals visit. We do not dare set foot outside Glimmerbrook for the mortals will have every right to destroy us if they find us. Our ancestors have been shunned, slaughtered, tortured—in fact, Tamed Magic only became a School of Magic because we needed a way to defend ourselves. Thus, my ancestors created this magic. But you, you can be the link between our worlds.”

“Me?” Morgyn chuckled nervously, “You sure you don’t want to wait a few more years and get someone… better? Maybe an athlete, or a genius scientist, or someone who has talents and skills, unlike me. All I can do is take mediocre pictures and run a small blog about equality.”

“You are ambitious, I sensed it when I first met you. You can do great things.”

“How?”

“We want to make you a spellcaster; mortal born but with spellcasting powers. Once given the Rite of Ascension you can cater to both my kind and your kind as a bridge between the two realms.” Áine stated. “If we can befriend the mortals and show them that there is nothing to fear, then we may be able to leave this realm and freely walk and live again in a realm that isn’t constantly trying to kill us."

“And you get cool powers!” L. smiled.

“And useful powers.” Evander added.

“And what if I said no?” Morgyn asked.

The three sages looked at each other before turning back to Morgyn—Evander looked saddened, L. was smiling, and Áine's face held no emotion.

“Then we’d have to kill you.” Áine stated.

“Oh, good, I love decisions where I don’t actually get to make a choice,” Morgyn said, sarcastically. They walked towards the three sages, standing in the middle of the three of them. Their heart was racing, and, slowly, with shaking hands, Morgyn rose their arms up, “I… I’m ready then... well, as ready I can be, at least. If it’s between this and death, I choose to serve you.”

“Serve?” Áine chuckled, “Do not think of it that way, you will be equal to us. Besides, you were ready the moment you stepped through that portal. Now, this shall be difficult, but I need you to stay awake and conscious through the whole ordeal…” Áine said, her voice changing to a soft tone.

“Will it hurt?” Morgyn asked, fearfully, his voice shaking.

“Possibly. We’ve never actually done this before. But trust in us, and trust in me. As I said, you’re mine, and I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Áine said, giving Morgyn a small smile. Morgyn nodded—they trusted her, but they weren’t certain yet if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Morgyn took a deep breath, trying to normalize their breathing as they closed their eyes tightly.

The other two sages walked to stand on the empty symbols on the floor, and Morgyn stood in the middle of the three. Wands at the ready, they began chanting in a language that Morgyn could not understand. Their eyes stayed closed as they waited, but they felt nothing. They opened one eye to peer at the sages, resting their sight on Áine. Suddenly, what felt like a thousand volts of electricity coursed through Morgyn’s body. They screamed, crying out, begging for it to stop, but it didn’t. Next came the heat—the feeling that they were standing in flames. Their head began to hurt as ancient knowledge began to make its home within Morgyn’s brain. The sage’s chanting went from meaningless nonsense to somewhat understandable words. Next, a cold chill like Morgyn had never felt before passed through their body, aching their bones. Morgyn fell to one knee, grabbing at the cold stone beneath them. Fat tears fell down their face as they bit their lip so hard that the teeth broke the skin and they tried not to pass out from the sheer torture that they were feeling. “Ái...ne...” Morgyn gasped out her name, but if she had heard them, she didn’t make it known. Lastly, a feeling passed through Morgyn, a feeling that they could only describe as what one feel’s while their dying. Finally, the pain and suffering ended—it must’ve only been five to ten minutes, but to Morgyn it felt like an eternity. They fell limply to the floor, tears running from their barely open eyes. Through blurry vision, they saw the heels of Áine walk over to where they lay, as she knelt beside them.

“Sleep now.” She said, her fingers gently caressing their curly hair before coming to rest on their cheek. “You have done well, my apprentice.” And with that, Morgyn lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Morgyn opened their eyes and looked around. They seemed to still be in the Magic Realm as the world around them was a vortex of purples, blacks, and blues and pieces of the ground, as well as chunks of brick, stone, and wood floated around in the sky. They stood on a small, floating piece of hardwood, which had dark wooden stairs strangely attached to it. They couldn’t recall what had happened before this, before coming to The Magic Realm; it was as if they didn’t have a life or any skills before arriving here—much of their memory was gone; however, this oddly didn’t scare Moygyn. Instead, it felt like a relief, like life was starting over for them, and they were at peace with this for some reason that they couldn’t remember nor understand. Not being able to go anywhere else, Morgyn followed the stairs and slowly began walking up them, creaking noises following with each of their steps. Ahead of them was an old, black brick building with a large wooden door that the stairs led straight to. The house seemed to be falling apart, and bricks were slowly floating off it. There wasn’t anything else around besides the building.

Morgyn reached the floating building, touching the cold brick of the run-down house. They slowly opened the old oak door, feeling compelled to see inside. The door creaked as it began to open, then fell off its hinges and began floating away from the house as Morgyn peered within. Darkness shrouded the interior of the building, and a coldness suddenly gripped at them, almost as if the darkness was reaching out and grabbing at Morgyn, begging to be let in, begging to take over their body. They rubbed their arms, trying desperately to get rid of this feeling, but they couldn’t be free of it. Their hair and clothes began to slowly blow towards the decaying house, almost as if they were being beckoned.

“Morgyn… let it be. Morgyn…” A cold whisper echoed in their ears.

Morgyn wanted to scream, but only let out a breathless gasp as they fought against the pull of the darkness, staggering backward until they realized they had walked off the wooden steps and began to be dragged into the vortex’s swirling ire. Morgyn reached their hand out, trying to grab the edge of the wooden stairs, trying to grab anything. “Áine...” They whispered, hoping, somehow, she could hear them and come to their aid.

“Morgyn… Morgyn… not towards…” The whispering continued, “Morgyn…” and it became quiet as Morgyn disappeared in the vortex.

Morgyn shot straight up, their breaths quick and fast, as they clenched something soft and cold in their hands. Their eyes scanned the room—no longer were they under the vortex’s sky, but instead, they were in a bedroom. The bed they were on had sheets that were as white as snow with a canopy that depicted a crescent moon. The wallpaper was a deep dark blue with white sparkles, which almost seemed star-like, and the floor was black. There were pictures of the Magical Realm, the moon cycles, and depictions of potions hanging on the walls as well as a bunch of dried herbs and a broom. Their eyes finally rested on Áine, who was watching them from a chair near a large stained-glass window. She laid the book she had in her hands down on a nearby wardrobe and walked over to them, sitting on the bed beside Morgyn.

“Are you alright?” She asked.

“I don’t know what just happened…” Morgyn answered, still clenching the sheets.

“You seemed to be having a nightmare, you were thrashing about and clawing the sheets off the bed. I began calling your name, trying to gently wake you up. I used to have nightmares as a child when my magic began to manifest, I should’ve suspected you would have them as well and warned you. My apologies.”

“That… oh yeah,” Morgyn mumbled groggily, letting go of the sheets and taking their head into their hands, “I remember the Rite, out of all the things I forgot I can recall that dreadful thing.”

“What do you mean by ‘all the things I forgot’?” Áine questioned.

“I don’t know what happened, but I can’t remember anything before coming here, like, my life or anything I did before... I mean,” Morgyn exhaled, trying to explain the mental fog that was wrapped around their brain, “I remember my name, and who I am, and I can remember where I came from and Earth-er-the Mortal Realm, but not anything that I personally did before entering the Realm.”

“That’s very odd, I can’t think of anything that could cause that besides, possibly, the Rite. Maybe it’s a side effect?”

“Maybe so,” Morgyn remarked as they gained their bearings back while the nightmare they had begun to drift away. “Where am I?”

“The Realm of Magic.”

“I mean, are we still in that mansion?”

“Oh, you mean the Magic Headquarters. Yes, we are. We brought you to my room to rest.”

“Ah… oh, um, this is your room huh? It’s… quite beautiful.” Morgyn said, looking around again, taking in every detail of it once again.

“Well, honestly, it’s a place of rest for me and nothing more. You, uh, seem to be more interested in being in my room than being a spellcaster.” Áine let out a soft laugh.

“I… oh…” Morgyn chuckled, although they knew they must sound silly right now. “It just… sounds surreal, spellcaster, magic, all of it. I don’t feel any different. Maybe the Rite of Ascension didn’t work?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Áine stated as she stood up from the bed. “You should be able to use magic in everyday activities, such as levitating that book.” She pointed towards the book she just sat down.

“You want me to levitate that book? Yeah ok sure, so, how do I do that again? When did I learn that?” Morgyn asked, sarcasm dripping into their tone.

“Yes, I do. There is no ‘how’, you just do it. It takes time to perfect it, of course, but this type of magic should just come to you as a spellcaster—even mortal-born. It isn’t a spell, there isn’t anything to learn; magic is just part of your being now, and we use it without even thinking.” Áine tried to explain, although she looked impatient with her own explanation, possibly because it wasn’t all that helpful to Morgyn, “I know it’s difficult to understand, but just… try. Try to focus on the book and focus on wanting to bring the book to you.” She reached towards Morgyn’s hands, taking them into hers. “Here, lift your hands towards the book, and just try. Trust me, you can do it.”

Morgyn felt a slight blush cross their face as they averted their eyes from hers. “I’ll try.” She let their hands go, and they held them in the air reaching towards the book. Morgyn closed their eyes and focused on the book, thinking about wanting it, thinking about it floating through the air towards them, thinking about how Áine set it down, thinking about how they were in Áine’s room, thinking about Áine… wait, no.

“You should be levitating it by now. Are you thinking about the book? Maybe the Rite didn’t work after all and we must try it again…” Áine said, the usual calmness in her voice being replaced with uneasiness.

“Oh, hell no! I just, uh, got distracted! Let me try again!” Morgyn laughed nervously, then whispered to themselves, “c’mon brain, focus.” Morgyn breathed in deeply and exhaled, this time keeping their eyes open and staring at the book, thinking about it, their hands stretched towards it, wanting it to come to them. Their eyes widened as the book began to move across the wardrobe, albeit at a snail’s pace.

“There you go…” Áine whispered, a tiny smile appearing on her face.

Morgyn watched with amazement as the book slid off the wardrobe and, clumsily, floated in the air. The book would dip down suddenly, and then quickly rise up and almost hit the ceiling, and it wasn’t really making any progress towards Morgyn, but they began to manage to stabilize the flying book to the point where it was floating in the air without any random drops.

“Whoa.” They gasped, “I actually have magic. I’m really doing this.”

“Hey Ái what’cha doing?” The book fell straight to the ground as Morgyn’s concentration was broken by L. coming into the room.

Áine groaned, rolling her eyes at L.’s sudden appearance, but she looked at Morgyn with a delightful smile, “That was great, you even stabilized the book by yourself! Soon, distractions—like her—won’t cause your concentration to break.”

“Oh, sorry.” L. took out a blue wand, pointed it towards the book, which shot up in the air, then quickly directed her wand towards Morgyn, and the book followed, hitting Morgyn straight in the face, “Is that what you were trying to do?”

“Yes, oww, but with less pain,” Morgyn muttered, pushing the book to the side of the bed as they heard L. snickering at their misfortune.

“What do you want now, L.?” Áine asked.

“I heard you all were practicing magic and I wanted to see newbie here trying out some spellllls.” L. smirked, “It sounds like a fun time, a mortal-born spellcaster trying out some awesome magics? Didn’t wanna miss it!”

Morgyn’s eyes widened, and before Áine could reply, Morgyn almost jumped out of bed, “Oh yeah! Spells, I want to be able to cast stuff like uh, Zipzap! The one that L. used when I met her!” Morgyn said excitedly; however, Áine shook her head no.

“Not today.”

“Why?” Both Morgyn and L. griped.

“Morgyn, you just woke up from a day’s sleep—”

“Wait, whoa, what? I was asleep for a whole day?” Morgyn gasped, stunned.

L. laughed, “Yeah, you were conked out! Glad we had magic to transport you here, I mean, your skin and bones but you were like a limp sack!”

“I’m not a limp sack, I’m… toned and… muscular.” Morgyn murmured, glaring at L.

“You’re not fooling anybody, bud.” She snapped right back, meeting their glare with her own sneer.

Áine had made her way back towards the stained-glass window, staring out of it again. If she had been listening to the two of them, she made no effort to show it. “Morgyn, we’re not learning spells today. You need to relax, I’m scared that you might… overcharge yourself, otherwise. The Rite works by overcharging your body with magic given by us and to get rid of overcharge you need to rest without using any spells.”

“Overcharge? What’s that?” Morgyn asked as L. walked over towards them, her facial expression was that of someone who was uncomfortable.

“It’s bad. Even I don’t mess with it, Morgyn.” L. whispered to them.

“Overcharge is a spellcaster’s biggest fear, it can kill us.” Áine looked back at Morgyn and, seeing their wide-eyed expression, smiled weakly, “Come, I’ll explain it later when you’re ready. For now, you need not worry about overcharge, instead just be excited about your new powers and that the Rite worked.”

“So, what, we’re just going to do nothing today? Just rest?” L. bellyached.

“Yes, L., we are just going to rest and relax today. No learning spells.”

“Can’t we at least show some of the Realm to Morgyn? Maybe show them Caster’s Alley? They don’t need to sleep to get rid of overcharge, they just need to not use spells and they don’t even know a spell yet.” L. requested.

Áine paused, “That’s… not an awful idea…”

“Plus, Morgyn here can get some new clothes! Clothes that match a spellcaster.” L. pointed her thumb towards them as she spoke.

“Hey! What’s wrong with my clothes?”

“Oh, nothing if you want a target on your back, every spellcaster is going to want to challenge the mortal to a duel. They’re too… mortal-y.” She said as she began pulling at Morgyn’s red button-up shirt. “This isn’t going to work around here.”

Áine giggled, “L.’s right, your clothes set you apart, in a bad way. Caster’s Alley has some clothing for you.”

“Oh Áine, they have wands, too!” L. exclaimed, turning towards Morgyn, “You definitely need a wand.”

Morgyn felt their cheeks burning again at the thought that Áine might have been thinking that their clothes were ridiculous, and maybe they didn’t fit in or weren’t comparable to the other spellcasters around here, “Y-yeah, I’m down for some shopping.” Morgyn sputtered. They were a bit nervous about shopping for one reason, but if Áine thought they needed different clothes, then they were just going to suck it up and agree to go.

“Yes!!!” L. cheered, running out of the room and through the halls, “Shopping time!”

“Evander, want to come to Caster’s Alley with Morgyn, L., and I?” Áine called through the hall as she followed L., walking instead of running. Morgyn followed closely behind her, still feeling embarrassed.

“No, I plan on heading to the Gardens today. Please keep L. in check… remember last time she went to Caster’s Alley.” He answered back from upstairs.

Áine glanced backward towards Morgyn, “Last time we went L. couldn’t help but practice her burgliate spell on the shops… she created so much havoc that day and we had to pay a lot in lost supply. That’s how she got your camera, by the way, by using burgliate.”

Morgyn tilted their head, “My camera? Oh… I did come here with a camera, didn’t I?” they looked down at their flip-flops, “Why did I have a camera in the first place…?”

“Oh yeah, the Rite erased your memories… I’ll see if I can make a potion that’ll bring them back to you.”

Morgyn shrugged, “It’s alright, I think… I’m… well, I have a new life here, I guess. I’m a spellcaster, best way to embrace it is having nothing that I feel guilty about leaving behind.”

Áine appeared to like that answer, as a smile crossed her lips, “That you do, this is your life now.” Although Morgyn wanted to agree with her and believe what they said, they couldn’t shake the pang of remorse they felt for whatever they possibly left behind. The two stayed quiet for a while as they traveled upstairs to the main hall before Morgyn piped up.

“So, there are gardens in the Realm?”

“Oh yes, they’re quite beautiful here. Do you enjoy the gardens back in the Mortal Realm?”

“I believe I did, or do, I guess. It sounds nice, at the very least, being surrounded by nature… or, whatever ‘nature’ is around here.”

“Oh yes, our ‘nature’, our flowers and trees here must be oh so strange to you.” Áine answered with a bit of sarcasm in her voice before changing her inflection, “I’m actually glad you enjoy nature, we tend to live with nature and embrace it. I spend most of my time upstairs in the Headquarters’ personal garden. I’ll show you it when we get back if you’d like.”

“That sounds nice.” Morgyn smiled at the thought of spending time with Áine in a garden, the feelings of sadness from their loss of memory slowly disappearing as they headed outside.

L. was standing next to a portal, which looked the same as the one Morgyn walked through when they came to the Magic Realm. She had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot, eyebrows furrowed. “Gah you’re both so slow! What were you doing? Did you two get lost in each other’s eyes?” She mocked.

“Shut up L.!” Morgyn snapped, causing Áine to laugh.

“Wow, you’re already beginning to fit in here.” She told them with a smile, causing Morgyn to blush.

L. stuck her tongue out, making an “ugh” sound. She quickly walked behind Áine and Morgyn, pushing them towards the portal, “Get in losers, we’re going shopping!” With that, the three went through the portal.

They walked through the other side of the portal to Caster’s Alley.

“Oh, this is where I was when I first entered.” Morgyn stated, staring at the alley ahead of them. A large fountain sat in the middle of a winding walkway which had houses and stores lining it. A few spellcasters glanced their way but didn’t seem worried any longer at the sight of Morgyn, possibly since L. and Áine were with them. Hopefully, new clothing would make them fit in better. They walked down the alley, passing by dilapidated buildings and some pieces of the structures floated around in the air. One house’s chimney had sparks flying out of it, almost like fireworks, and Morgyn imagined a spellcaster inside practicing spells, which they still desperately wanted to learn today. Maybe after shopping, they would ask Áine again.

“See how the buildings are half-broken? That’s the vortex’s doing before the original sages stopped it. At one point there were even bridges connecting each place, but those got broken quick. That’s the reason for the portals.” L. said as they walked through the alley, and she pointed towards some of the ruin that had happened to many of the buildings.

“Is it difficult to constantly protect this place?” Morgyn asked the two Sages.

“Nah, I mean, at first you feel completely weak, like your power is completely zapped, but after that it just… is.” L. answered.

“Yeah, it’s just a part of us. It takes some of our power, but we have a lot to spare compared to other spellcasters.” Áine continued off L.’s answer.

They passed by some stalls, and that’s when Morgyn noticed something… off about the vendors. “They’re… holy cowplant, they’re ghosts!” They exclaimed, stopping in their tracks and staring at the vendors who were transparent and monochromatic—one was green, one purple, and one blue. The Sages stopped as well, turning towards them.

“Yep,” L. stated matter-of-factly.

“Yes, they are indeed ghosts,” Áine responded.

“I’m sorry, but what? That’s… that’s all you have to say? That they’re ghosts? So, this is a normal thing here?” Morgyn said, stunned.

“What, you didn’t know ghosts existed?” L. asked, looking shocked at Morgyn.

“No, I didn’t!”

“Ghosts don’t usually walk around the mortal world… In the mortal world, ghosts are seen as something scary, and so they usually hide. Here, they’re free to do as they please and go wherever they want—many choose to sell wares on the alley.” Áine clarified.

“I didn’t know that about ghosts in the mortal realm,” L. replied.

“I didn’t know about ghosts, period!” Morgyn muttered.

“It must come as a shock, I know, but you’ll get used to it soon,” Áine said to them.

“No way, it shouldn’t be that much of a shock! You came into a world of magic, you gotta get used to the weirdness of it.” L. said as she stretched her arms above her head, “It’s just normal stuff here. Get over it.” Morgyn silently agreed more with L. than Áine, it would be easier if they stopped questioning everything and just went along with the ride… as they said earlier, this was their life now.

“Wands for sale!” One of the ghostly vendors said out loud in a waling sound, and L. smiled widely as she grabbed Morgyn by their hand and pulled them towards the ghost, even though they were not ready to get near her and dragged their feet against the stone walkway.

“Alright, Morgyn, time to get you a wand!” L. declared.

“Why? Can’t I just use my hands.”

“Wands are stronger, plus it’s good to be able to channel your magic through an instrument,” Áine stated as she came towards the vendor, standing on the other side of Morgyn.

“And they’re just cool.” L. nudged them, “C’mon, tell her what’cha want.”

Morgyn glanced at the vendor who was a green ghost of a woman. “Uh… I… uh… hi.” Morgyn smiled anxiously at the ghost.

“I don’t sell ‘hi’s’, buy something or leave.” She said in a ghostly sounding echo.

Well, Morgyn thought to themselves, at least the ghosts weren’t any different here than the vendors in the mortal world—money is everything. “I want a wand, please.” With that, she snapped her fingers and a large selection of wands appeared.

“Pick the one that speaks to you, spellcaster.” The ghost replied.

Morgyn’s eyes glanced over the wands, and they felt as though this was an important decision, one that they didn’t want to make based on looks alone. As the ghost said, they wanted the wand that spoke to them—they wanted the wand to pick them—and that thought felt right to them. They closed their eyes, allowing their fingers to caress over each wand. They felt the cold chill of one, the sleek marble of another, and the etched swirls of a third. Finally, their hand rested on one, grasping it gently, and they had an urging feeling to not move their hand, to keep it there, and they opened their eyes. “This one.” The wand in their hand was a dark brown, seemingly crafted from old wood, with a forest green gem caressed within the wood at the tip. Morgyn seemed enraptured by the wand, rising it up and staring at it. They could feel something resonating in them, through them, through the wand. An electricity. Their blonde hair began rising into the air with an energy they hadn’t ever felt prior to this. Before anything else happened, Áine pushed the wand down, breaking Morgyn’s focus. They glanced over at her, confused as to what just happened, and she gave them a stern look and shook her head slightly. She let go of the wand after a minute of the two staring at each other and stepped away from Morgyn.

“The Wand of the Sylvan Forest, hand-carved from the trees of Sylvan Glade. Good choice.” The ghost stated, reaching her hand out for payment.

“Uh, one second, I might have enough cash…”

“No, Morgyn,” Áine laughed, her serious look changing quickly, “We don’t use cash here.”

“Yeah, mortal-born, get with the times. We use other stuff—here, I’ll pay for it.” L. reached into her satchel, bringing out what looked to be a white gemstone. “This should be enough. And now you owe me a favor.” L. snickered, “I won’t forget this.”

“Oh, great, that sounds like it’ll come back to bite me.”

“Good doing business with you.” The ghost said as she took the gemstone from L., placing it behind the counter. Morgyn wanted to ask how she could handle materialistic items, but as L. said, they should just get used to the strangeness around here, and thus kept their mouth shut.

“See, in the Realm, we pay for things using potion ingredients or even knowledge. Today L. and I shall pay for you.” Áine explained as she reached out, “Here, let me hold onto that for now, just so it won’t get in the way when you try clothes on.” Morgyn nodded, allowing her to take the wand from them, although they really wanted to feel that strange energy course through them all over again.

As the small group began to walk away, Morgyn heard the vendor call out, “Brooms! Wands! Familiars! Get ‘em here!”

“Brooms? Oh, Áine!” Morgyn turned to face her, “I have to get a broom! I want to learn how to ride one so badly, ever since I came here and saw that one spellcaster take off on one! I have to learn how to fly like that!”

“We have plenty of brooms back at HQ. You will learn how to fly in due time, I promise. It takes practice, though.”

“Yeah, besides, you’ll probably fall on your face a few hundred times while learning. Don’t want you to get discouraged about this spellcaster thing so quickly.” L. scoffed.

“Come on, L., Morgyn isn’t you…” Áine teased, causing L. to quickly turn on her heels, heading away from the two.

“Ouch.” Morgyn snorted, “I didn’t know you had that in you, Áine.”

“I tend to surprise people.” She responded, smirking.

“Ooh, hey, guys! This is my favorite clothing store! You’ll find something here, Morgyn!” L. yelled across the alley as she popped into an old looking building. The hanging iron sign out front  
had a spellcaster riding a broomstick, their dust behind them creating the word ‘Spellbound’.

“Let’s follow her to make sure she stays out of trouble and find you some spellcaster-worthy clothing,” Áine said as she began walking towards the store, but Morgyn stalled, and once she noticed she came back to them. “Is everything alright?”

“What was that Áine? Earlier, with the wand? What happened?”

Her expression was turned to one of concern, “That? That was just your powers manifesting into overcharge… it… it’s dangerous.”

“It felt… incredible.”

“It does. Until you die.” Áine said flatly, “I’m not trying to scare you Morgyn, but heed my warnings and stay away from overcharging yourself—it doesn’t matter how good it feels, or how powerful you feel, our powers are perfectly fine and powerful without it.” With that, she turned around and began heading to the clothing store.

“But Áine…”

“Enough.” She commanded, and Morgyn quickly quieted down and followed her steps. They would drop the discussion of overcharge for now, especially since Morgyn still was hoping to be able to practice spellcasting later today and didn’t want to get on Áine’s bad side.

The clothing store was a small, quaint little shop. The wooden floor squeaked with each step of the customers, and, besides two paned windows at the front of the store, the only other lighting came from flickering candles held in the air by seemingly nothing. The walls had peeling white flowery wallpaper and wooden paneling in places where the wallpaper had completely fallen off. There were only two other spellcasters in the shop, and they paid no attention to Morgyn nor Áine when they entered the store. The far-left seemed to have men’s clothing and the far-right had women’s. L. was in the men’s section, and she already had a few shirts and pants floating beside her when she waved Morgyn over. “Ok, so how about this?” She waved her hand and a black button-up shirt which had golden moons and stars sewn onto it flew in front of Morgyn’s eyes.

“Definitely not,” Morgyn said, grimacing.

“Alright, then this?” A green hoodie with some holes in it replaced the first shirt.

“Uh, no. That’s probably a hundred bucks for a hoodie full of holes,” Morgyn quickly changed what they just said when L. gave them a confused look, “I mean, it must cost a… diamond? And be worth a… quartz?”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Ooh, how about this! I really like this one.” A gray polo with a large brown overcoat floated towards Morgyn, who pushed it away with their hands and simply shook their head no, causing L. to scowl at them and drop all the clothes onto the floor, “Fine I’ll find more…” She muttered as she left.

“Sorry…” Morgyn mumbled, staring at the clothes she dropped. They stood there for a few seconds before browsing through the racks of clothing; however, they barely paid any attention to what was on the racks. None of these clothes felt right to them. They kept stealing glances towards the women’s section, which was their preferred style—but, they weren’t sure how the sages would feel about them suggesting they look for women’s clothes. Would they be alright with it? Did spellcasters even understand genders the way mortals did? This was why they were worried about going shopping and Morgyn still felt as though they knew nothing of this realm. Eventually, they tired of pretending to look for clothes and saying ‘no’ to everything L. brought to them. They began making their way to the women’s section, trying to stealthily and quickly find something more feminine for them to wear but were caught swiftly by Áine, who noticed their worried expression on their face.

“Everything alright Morgyn?” Áine asked, concern in her voice, “You look… scared. The shop isn’t too scary for you, is it?”

“N-no, I’m not scared of anything,” Morgyn said quickly and groaned when they heard L. laugh out loud at their answer. “I… just, uh,” Morgyn looked away from Áine’s face, sighing before turning back to meet her gaze—they didn’t want to hide part of who they were from her. “Men’s clothes aren’t really my thing. I actually prefer feminine clothing… like, um,” He laughed nervously, “I’m really jealous of your dress, I want one exactly like it.”

“Really? That’s it? Well, good!” Áine exclaimed, surprising Morgyn. “I don’t know a thing about men’s clothing, I’ve honestly just been staring at the same rack for ten minutes, but L. and I, well, we know some stuff about women’s clothing. Sorry that we just assumed what clothing you liked.”

“No harm done.”

Áine called out, “L., let’s go to the women’s section!”

“Oh, thank goodness!” L. exclaimed, dropping more clothes on the floor. Morgyn felt bad for the workers at the store until they saw the clothes magically fly up in the air and fold themselves before going back on the shelves and racks—right, magic, it was a thing. Morgyn followed the two women, suddenly much more excited about the shopping trip now that they knew that L. and Áine accepted them for what they liked.

Within this section, Morgyn was able to find plenty of clothing they enjoyed. There was an adorable dress that came with a plaid undershirt, L. found a crop top with a black cat on it, Áine found a tight leather corset dress that tied around the neck and black stilettos to try on. It became almost a fashion show, with Morgyn stepping out of the dressing room and strutting as if they were on a runway with L. hooting and hollering and Áine giving small smiles and clapping when Morgyn did something she enjoyed—like turning dramatically, shimmying their shoulders, even voguing. At one point. L. joined in, trying on different clothing and strutting around along with Morgyn, and at another point in time, she produced lights and sparks with her wand for them to walk under while they showed the clothes off. The fact that they hadn’t been thrown out was crazy to Morgyn, although maybe it was because they were with two of the most powerful sages in the Realm. The three of them were having so much fun and Morgyn was really starting to feel as though they belonged with the sages and they began to feel as though they were getting to know Áine and L. better, maybe even becoming friends with them. None of them wanted to stop the impromptu fashion show, but Morgyn noticed that it was starting to get late and they still wanted to see if Áine would teach them a spell, so they began to quicken their trying-on session. Finally, Morgyn walked out in what they believed to be the one—a gray-beige turtleneck sweater with a long, deep red-auburn coat, black pants, and black boots.

“I love it…” Morgyn said.

“I’m glad you do. You look like a spellcaster in that.” Áine replied, smiling.

“I mean, I would’ve gone with the plaid dress and overalls, but that looks good, too.” L. stood up, “Just wear it out of the store and leave your mortal stuff behind—Áine you got this one?”

“Yes, I’ll buy the outfit.”

“Awesome, let’s get home and eat! I’m starving and I can’t wait to cook a huge meal.” L. said as she got up and left the store. Morgyn watched her leave and noticed the colorful sky becoming darker as the day began to disappear. They hurried over towards Áine, who was paying for their outfit.

“Hey, Áine, I know you said no spells, but I really want to learn at least one before the day ends.”

“Morgyn—”

“Hasn’t it been long enough? I’m sure the overcharge thing is gone or decreased plenty for one or two teeny tiny spells? Please? We had such a fun time here, I don’t want it to end…” Morgyn asked, trying to make their voice as sweet and kind as they could. Áine stayed silent for a second, then she chuckled to herself.

“You’re starting to sound like L.,” She threw her hands up playfully, “Alright, alright, you win. When we get back to HQ, we’ll practice some spells; but you’re going to do as I say, and when I say we’re done, we’re done. No arguing with me.”

“I will, I promise!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stared at far too many pictures of Morgyn while trying to figure out if their turtleneck was gray or beige--then I found out that gray-beige is a real color and just went with it.  
I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and thank you for the amazing response so far!


	3. Chapter 3

The trio returned to the Headquarters, and as soon as they set foot within the large, mansion-like building, L. turned towards Morgyn and Áine and asked, “What are you two going to do now?”

Morgyn, who had been daydreaming about practicing spells with their mentor the whole way back, replied, “Áine and I-”

“We’re just going to study a bit for today.” Áine cut Morgyn off, and she smirked at them when they looked at her with disappointment.

“But Áine—” 

“No buts.” She said, holding a hand up to get them to stop.

“Yeah, I’m out then, studying is not for me. But hey, I’ll cook you two a great meal for when you're done doing boring junk.” L. stated as she began walking away, leaving them in the main hall, waving behind her as she went to where Morgyn presumed was the kitchen.

Áine turned to a clearly disappointed Morgyn, and got closer to them, and whispered, “Don’t worry, Morgyn, we’re going to train today. L.’s great but… it can be difficult to concentrate on anything with her in the room, and I want you to concentrate on what I’m about to teach you.” With that, she began walking towards a large staircase that was at the far end of the main hall. She paused, glancing behind her, “It’ll just be us, is that alright with you?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Morgyn responded quickly, feeling giddy as they gradually followed behind her, their fingers twitching at the thought of using magic again. It was such a surreal experience that ended far too soon, and Morgyn wanted to try it again, just to make sure they weren’t hallucinating and that they could produce magic, such as spells, just like Áine had stated that they could.

Once at the top of the steps, Morgyn was amazed as the “room” they were in, which was more like a balcony. It was open to the outside, and Morgyn went to the edge, placing their hands on the railing, and looked out at the dim glows that the sky produced and the many different shapes and sizes of the exotic plants that surrounded the HQ. Áine watched them, amused, and came up beside them, laying her own hands on the railing. 

“It’s beautiful,” Morgyn said when she approached, not taking their eyes off the sights.

She glanced at them and looked back at the Realm, a small smile on her face. “I guess, if you’ve lived here all your life, you forget the beauty that this place can hold… to you, this is magical, to us, Earth is.”

Morgyn paused, thinking back to Earth, “I don’t really miss it…” They glanced towards her, “Earth can be so dull compared to this.” They gestured towards the scenery. 

“The beauty of this place is lost on you once you realize it’s always on the brink of killing you. Earth is safe.” 

“I guess that’s true, it’s difficult to imagine that, without the Sages, this place would be gone, as well as every spellcaster. On Earth, a lot of the most beautiful things can be the most dangerous.” Morgyn turned away from the view, looking at what the room held. Bookshelves lined the edges of the room, and two lounge chairs sat near them. A small, square garden was attached to the balcony, and in the middle of the garden was a gorgeous golden cauldron with a shining red symbol on it. Before either of them could begin their training, they heard footsteps, as Evander and someone Morgyn hadn’t met yet made their way up to the balcony.

“Evander and Simeon, are you training as well?” Áine said as she faced them.

Evander nodded, “Ah, yes, but we didn’t know you two were already up here. If our training is going to interrupt yours, we can do it another day.” 

“Oh, no, it won’t,” Áine said, walking over towards Evander, “Actually, I wouldn’t mind training together with you and Simeon. I admit, since this is my first apprentice, I don’t believe I’m going to be the best at training Morgyn…” While she continued speaking to Evander, his apprentice, Simeon, had made his way over to Morgyn. 

“Hi there, I’m Morgyn, um, Áine’s apprentice,” Morgyn said, looking at him. He was heavyset with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. He wore a sleeveless, dark green, long jacket with a long-sleeved gray shirt underneath, and black pants with knee-high boots that matched his jacket in color. Morgyn could tell that he was older than themselves, as he was beginning to acquire wrinkles on his face.

“Oh, hello…” Simeon mumbled back, he looked a bit gloomy, and as they stood there in silence Morgyn began to feel awkward and turned to look back out at the view, trying to think of something to say, but Simeon spoke before they could think of anything, “You’re the mortal-turned-spellcaster, right?” He glanced at the blonde, leaning back to rest against the railing.

Morgyn smiled, “Yeah, I am. That’s why I wanted to train today; I’m dying to try some more magic—it’s exciting, sometimes even hard to believe.” Simeon looked a bit puzzled by that statement.

“Magic? Hard to believe…?” He said, slowly. “You know what’s actually hard to believe? You being from Earth, some are saying it’s just a rumor…”

“Well, it’s not,” Morgyn stated.

“Oh, I know. Evander would never lie… L. on the other hand…” Morgyn snickered at that, while Simeon just gave him a smile that disappeared quickly back into a frown. “You’re Áine’s first-ever apprentice… I wonder if she’s going to retire soon?”

“Huh? No, she’s far too young for that! I’m going to help her, I’m part of her plan to show those on Earth that we spellcasters aren’t a threat.”

Finally, Simeon showed some emotion, chuckling as he said, “You used ‘we’. You already see yourself as one of us instead of a mortal…?”

“I… guess I do, I mean it feels right being here, so far, but I don’t remember much of my life before coming here, so that might contribute to me feeling more at home in the Realm.” 

“Why don’t you remember your life before this?”

“Something happened during the Rite of Ascension that made me lose most of my memories.”

“Hm, that's rather curious...” Simeon stated, glancing over to his mentor and Áine, who were still talking about today, “Evander took me on when he realized he was getting too old to fulfil his duties and needed to pass on the Practical magics to an apprentice, that’s the only reason I wondered if Áine was preparing for the future; but her plans are admirable, I’d enjoy being able to see Earth one day.” He looked back at Morgyn, a smirk etched onto his face, “I’m going to be the next Sage soon, Evander stated that my ability to learn spells surpasses many that he’s met.”

Morgyn looked impressed, “Really? I hope I’m a quick learner as well… so, is that how you become a Sage then? When your mentor retires, the apprentice replaces them?”

“Yes, it is. There is another way, if a spellcaster beats one of the Sages in a Duel for Power, then that spellcaster automatically becomes the new Sage, but that hasn’t happened in a long time.” Simeon answered.

“Then… I’m to be the next Sage of Practical Magic… since I’m Áine’s apprentice…?” Morgyn questioned.

“It’s a possibility if she doesn’t take any other apprentices on, and she hasn’t seemed interested in anyone but you, as of yet.”

Morgyn gripped the railing tightly within their hands, their knuckles turning white. That idea was nerve-wracking to think about since they were, in fact, mortal-born, and they hadn’t had nearly as much practice as any other spellcaster who was born using magic. Morgyn thought they must be the worst choice for an apprentice and began questioning Áine’s decision on making them a spell caster, but their thoughts were interrupted by her voice.

“Alright, Morgyn, we are going to watch Evander and Simeon learn a spell first, and then we’re going to learn my favorite spell.” With that, Simeon went to the center of the room where Evander was standing, waiting for him. Áine joined Morgyn near the railing, smiling. “I know you’re excited to learn but watching them will help you understand how the training process goes.”

“Oh… I’m very excited.” Morgyn managed to choke out as they felt a knot churning in the center of their stomach, their mind was ablaze with thoughts of the future and wondering if they really could pull any of this spellcaster stuff off.

“Alright, Simeon, today we shall learn a Practical spell called Herbio.” After stating that, Evander pulled out an old-looking wand. He twirled it around, and swirls began surrounding Simeon, who closed his eyes. 

“See, we Sages cast the knowledge of the spell, and the apprentice absorbs them.” 

“How am I going to do that?” Morgyn replied, sounding almost defeated.

“You… um, are you alright, Morgyn? If you don’t want to do this, we can wait.” Áine whispered to them, her expression one of worry, as she obviously noticed how they had lost any enthusiasm that they had earlier.

“I’m… just nervous, Áine. About a lot of things. I still want to try though…” They replied, glancing at her and giving her a nervous grin. She didn’t fully buy the smile, and she wrapped an arm around their shoulder.

“I’m here for you, ok? I know it’s a lot in one day, and you can talk to me about anything, any time you want.”

“It’s my fault, I wanted to cast spells and you wanted to wait…” Morgyn said, but they allowed her to pull them close to her, enjoying the feeling of having a friend in this strange place because they truly needed one, especially right now where everything began to feel as though it was too much for Morgyn. 

“Look, Simeon absorbed the knowledge…” Áine whispered, and Morgyn’s attention was drawn back to the pair. Simeon, who had pulled his wand out, watched as Evander casted Herbio, which created a fully-grown plant in the garden. Simeon followed suit, casting the spell, which caused another fully-grown plant to appear.

“And that’s all there is to it.” Evander said, turning towards Morgyn and Áine, “Your turn.”

“Oh good…” Morgyn muttered as Áine, who kept her arm wrapped around them, walked to the middle of the room with Morgyn. Simeon and Evander each took a book from the shelves and sat in the chairs near the bookshelves and began reading while Áine and Morgyn got ready.

“You got this, Morgyn—it’s easy, spellcasters don’t have any issue with learning spells, and we’re going to learn a novice one today called Chillio!” Áine exclaimed, clearly excited for Morgyn to finally learn what it means to be a spellcaster and what it feels like to cast a spell.

“I’ll try Áine…” Morgyn stated back, and they watched as she pulled out her own wand, which was dark in color and had a light blue bulb on the tip. She began twirling her wand around, and Morgyn could see small sparks and swirls being produced from her wand, and they copied Simeon and closed their eyes. After a few minutes, Morgyn opened their eyes but didn’t feel any different or more knowledgeable. 

“Alright, now, this is how you cast it.” Áine held her wand, circling it above and around herself before pointing it straight ahead, “Chillio!” One of the plants that Evander and Simeon created instantly froze over, completely covered in ice.

“Wow!” Morgyn exclaimed, “That’s awesome!” Áine smiled at Morgyn's excitement returning.

“It’s just a novice spell,” Evander stated out loud, “Wait until you see the higher-level spells.”

“Now you try on the other plant, Morgyn.” Áine directed.

Morgyn bit their lip, taking their own wand out, “Alright…” They muttered to themselves and let out a deep breath that they hadn’t realized they were holding. They stood still for a moment, their nerves making it difficult for them to move, and they glanced over at Áine, who smiled at them and gave them a thumb’s up. Feeling confident with Áine in their corner, they copied her movements with their wand as best as they could, pointing their wand straight at the second plant, “Chillio!”

Nothing happened.

“Um…” Áine muttered, crossing her arms, and Morgyn quickly put their wand back to their side, looking at the ground, as they didn’t want Áine to see their embarrassed face. They managed to glance at Evander and Simeon. Simeon wasn’t looking up, and Morgyn was unsure if he had even seen the attempt—Evander, on the other hand, was looking straight at them, with an eyebrow raised.

“Here, Morgyn,” Áine walked over to stand behind them, both her hands resting on both their arms, “Let me help you with the movement, you were a little stiff…” 

“Thank you, Áine.” Morgyn managed to say, still feeling embarrassed—Simeon had done his spell so easily and quickly, that Morgyn had thought, or hoped, that they would do the exact same thing. Now, it just felt as though they were wasting Áine’s time and making a fool of themselves in front of not just her but Evander and Simeon. They let Áine guide their arms through the air, following the movement, which did feel better and more fluent than what they had done before. She showed them the movement again by herself and helped them copy it a few more times before stepping away.

“I think you’ve got it down, why not try again?” She smiled at them.

Morgyn really didn’t want to try again, but her encouragement and smile made them feel as though they had to. They readied their wand, following the movements that she had taught them, and pointed their wand at the plant once again, “Chillio!” And, like last time, nothing happened.

“I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.” Áine stated, tapping her foot impatiently. 

“It’s not you, Áine,” Evander finally spoke up, standing up from the chair and placing his book back on the shelf. Simeon glanced up from his book, but ultimately deemed the scene uninteresting, and went back to reading. “Maybe learning spells is different for someone mortal-born? Or maybe they’re not even trying… maybe it’s just a game to them, many mortals see magic as nothing but a toy for entertainment purposes.” Evander spoke as he walked towards Áine, staring at Morgyn with a disapproving look.

“I am trying!” Morgyn snapped, and, once again, did the movement, quicker this time, almost desperate-like, pointing the wand at the plant again, “Chillio!” Morgyn shouted, but the plant still wasn’t frozen.

“Did you absorb the knowledge?” Evander questioned.

“I think I did…”

“There is no ‘I think’, you either did or you didn’t!” Evander snapped, raising his voice.

“Evander, please…” Áine murmured, but her voice went unnoticed by Evander and Morgyn.

“Then I did!” 

“Then you should be able to use the spell!” Evander sneered.

Morgyn sighed, turning towards the Sage, “I just… I’m trying, ok? I don’t know…”

“You must not be trying hard enough… Do you even want to be a spellcaster?” Evander stated.

“I do I-I’m trying my best—”

“It’s not good enough… do you just not have any ambition then, Morgyn?”

“Don’t question my ambition! You don't understand how freaking upsetting it is to me that I'm failing to cast this spell.” Morgyn hissed, lowering their voice, their eyes narrowing.

“Evander, this isn’t helping—”

“Áine, this… creature that you’ve created…” 

“Don’t call them that!” Áine whispered harshly, “Don’t use that insulting term around them…”

“Creature?” Morgyn asked, their eyes still narrowed in anger.

Áine looked at Morgyn, clearly distraught, “Um… well, uh, Morgyn,” She sighed, “Some spellcasters… dislike mortals, and me making you a mortal-born spellcaster, well, they’ve started referring to you as… a creature. But we don’t use that term—many spellcasters don’t use that term, only a handful do. I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to know…” She faced Evander again, “Thanks for that.” She said, sarcastically.

They felt their anger rising, a freezing cold, sharp, white anger. Were there other spellcasters questioning them? Calling them a creature? Was Evander a part of them? Morgyn felt their hands trembling, their grip tightening on their wand to make sure they didn’t drop it.

“This one…” Evander paused to glare at Morgyn, “Seems to be defective. They’re a joke and you should be ashamed to have picked them as your apprentice when there’s so many others around here—”

“Chillio!” Morgyn roared out the command, pointing their wand straight at Evander, who froze right where they stood, a block of ice engulfing them. Everyone stood in silence for a few heartbeats before Áine frantically moved closer to the frozen block that was now Evander.

“Morgyn! What did you do!?” She exclaimed. “You were supposed to freeze the PLANT!” 

Morgyn stood still, the tip of their wand still pointed at Evander, and they were seething with anger, but Áine’s voice snapped them out of it, and their eyes widened when they realized what just happened—what they had just done—and they dropped their wand on the floor. “I… uh… uh, sorry, I’m sorry, holy cowplant I did that…” Morgyn said, the words spewing out of their mouth too quickly that the words began getting jumbled together. Áine ignored them, as she began using her wand to emit a flame to thaw Evander out. Morgyn watched her work, and nearly jumped out of their skin when they felt something cold touch their right hand.

“You dropped this.” Simeon stated, holding their wand, pushing it into Morgyn’s hand, “It’s still cold from the spell…”

“I-uh-thanks,” Morgyn said, taking it from him. “You’re not… mad that I froze your mentor?”

Simeon shrugged, “That was honestly the most interesting thing I’ve seen in a while… learning how to freeze large objects, or, I guess, people, can take some time and practice. You? You literally went from step one of learning how to cast a spell to step nine in a few minutes. Guess you really are Sage material.” 

“Is he alright?” Morgyn asked, ignoring Simeon’s remark, for now.

“He’ll be fine, he’s just… frozen.” Áine exhaled, “Everything about him is frozen, so, he’s not going to starve or anything in there… I’m just going to thaw him out quicker with my magic… Morgyn, just so you know, you’re not supposed to use our magic on others, unless you’re in a duel…”

Simeon leaned over to Morgyn, “He deserved it.” He whispered in their ear.

Just then, a loud crash downstairs startled everyone, and yelling could be heard below.

“Oh great, now what!?” Áine groaned, “Come you two, we need to make sure everything is alright… uh, Evander just um, stay there? I’ll be back.” She headed to the stairs and began going down them, and Simeon followed her. Morgyn walked a bit slower, and when they passed by Evander, they couldn’t help but whisper under their breath,

“You needed to cool down, anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Evander needed to "chill out" haha. Hm, but, I wonder what's happening downstairs? I guess we have to wait for the next chapter to see!  
On a different note, how excited is everyone for Discover University!? I'm so excited, especially for those piercings!


	4. Chapter 4

Áine, Simeon, and Morgyn headed downstairs and, from the main hall, followed the loud yelling, which was coming from a small room connected to the main hall. This was the kitchenette, which had a small line of counters on the back wall along with a single antique-looking wood-burning oven. Once inside the kitchenette, the trio saw L., an older woman, and a young teenage boy. The older woman had her hands on her hips and was scowling towards L., who didn’t seem to be paying the woman any mind as she was gathering different measuring spoons and spices. The teenager was standing further away from what was happening, leaning against one of the counters, head down.

“Is this really what the role of a Sage has come to? To someone who plays pranks on others and never takes things seriously?” The older woman criticized, glaring at L. while she adjusted her glasses. 

“I mean, it’s not called the Sage of Orderly Conduct now, is it?” L. sneered back at her as she turned her back towards the older woman and started her cooking once again, using her magic to have herbs and spices fly into the large pot on the stovetop.

“Sages should act like adults instead of children who haven’t learned anything!” She wagged her finger in the air towards L., even though the pink-haired Sage wasn’t paying attention.

“Mom, can we go now?” The teenage boy piped up as he flipped his side bangs out of his face and Morgyn noticed his black eyeliner and realized that they would need to ask L. or Áine about getting some makeup later for themself.

“Not yet, Darrel, not until L. listens to me lecture about the proper way one should act as a Sage.” The older woman spoke back, glancing at her son.

“Proper… yeah… sounds like something I definitely want to hear… again…” L. muttered just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, and this caused the older woman to fume with anger.

“What seems to be the matter now, Minerva?” Áine spoke up, smiling at the older woman. 

“The matter? The matter is this woman never takes her job seriously! Sages have the most important role in our society and every single time I come into the Magic Headquarters she’s here messing with every spellcaster in sight! I came back here because I had seemed to have left my spellbook only to find it in her possession, most likely she used her Burgliate spell as she does enjoy it quite so. She plays pranks on all of us all the time and takes enjoyment from our misery, and clearly doesn’t take her duties seriously!”

“Hah hah, you said duty.” L. chuckled, hands on her hips as a large spoon stirred the pot in front of her.

Minerva pointed at her dramatically, “You see what I mean!?”

Áine sighed, rubbing her temples, “Yes, I know. I can assure you, Minerva… for the hundredth time… L. does her job well, and she’s a powerful spellcaster, otherwise, she wouldn’t still be a Sage.” 

“Yeah old lady, if you really think I shouldn’t be a Sage then come at me! Duel me for my role if you think you can do it better, although, I dread to imagine you as a Sage of Mischief—or a Sage at all! We’d all probably be doomed to the vortex!” L. turned her head just enough to see Minerva, a large grin on her face as she looked at the older woman.

“This isn’t about me becoming a Sage, this is about you taking your role seriously!”

“Hah! I knew you’d back down from a duel, you just don’t have what it takes…” L. taunted as she turned back to her pot and sniffed the aroma that it was creating, “Ah… almost finished.”

Minerva’s lip was curled into a snarl and her fists bundled up, “Why I ought to…” She seethed before turning her head to look at Áine, but her eyes fell on Morgyn, “And who is this?” She gestured towards Morgyn.

“… My apprentice.” Áine replied after a pause. Both Minerva’s and Darrel’s eyes widened at her statement.

“Hm… really? I’ve never seen this spellcaster around before… it took you a while to pick someone, even though my son has been here almost every day learning the powerful magics of this hall…” Minerva answered as she looked at Áine, who was doing everything possible not to look Minerva in the eyes.

“Yeah! Áine waited for such a long time!” L. turned to look at them as Minerva watched her, eyes narrowing towards her, and Áine began waving her hands in front of her, shaking her head no, desperately trying to get L. to stop talking. She didn’t take the hint. “She didn’t even pick a spellcaster, instead of picking some mortal-born and turning them into a spellcaster!” L. walked over to Morgyn, slumping an arm around them as Áine covered her face in her hands, letting out a sigh of defeat.

“What!?” Minerva turned back to glare at Morgyn, who recoiled at her intense gaze, “This is the mortal-born I heard about!? Áine! I thought that was just a myth! I can’t believe you picked a mortal-born instead of a pure-blooded spellcaster! The Charm family name is ages old; my son would’ve been the perfect apprentice for you, and you chose this!?” Words spewed out of Minerva’s mouth, her anger rising once again as Áine slowly dropped her hands from her face, revealing a death-glare that was focused towards L., who obviously noticed and quickly averted her eyes.

“Whoops…” L. chuckled nervously.

“Good job, as always.” Simeon teased.

“Shut up apprentice of lameness…” L. said under-her-breath, teeth clenched.

“I picked Morgyn because they show great talent—” Áine began but got cut off.

“Talent for what? For being a mortal? You have seen how talented my son is! In fact, let’s have a challenge—my son versus your apprentice.”

“A duel? Against a mortal-born? Seems hardly fair—I like it.” The teenager smirked, standing up straight and staring straight at Morgyn.

Minerva raised her eyes at the Sage, a grin curling onto her lips, “Well? What do you say, Áine?”

“Uh… don’t I get a say?” Morgyn asked, feeling their pulse racing—no way were they ready for a duel! However, Áine, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Minerva since she suggested the duel, had a small smile on her face.

“Of course, I agree. My apprentice versus your son.” 

“What!?” Morgyn exclaimed.

“Perfect! Come, Darrel, to the Dueling Grounds we go!” Minerva said, walking away with her son. 

“Ooh, I am so not missing this.” L. stated, taking her arm off Morgyn, “The stew can sit for a bit!” 

“Yeah, I’m not missing this either. I want to see some powerful spellcasters beating each other with magic!” Simeon agreed with L., as both began heading towards the Dueling Grounds, clearly betting on who was going to win as they spoke quite loudly until they left the Headquarters.

“What is happening!? A duel? Dueling Grounds? Am I about to get killed?” Morgyn asked as they ran a hand through their hair and could feel the sweat that was starting to build upon their forehead. “Áine why!?”

“I think you can do this, Morgyn.”

“Oh, that sentence just filled me with so much confidence.” Morgyn sarcastically said, crossing their arms as they looked at her nervously.

Áine chuckled, “Don’t worry Morgyn, the duel isn’t to the death—that’s not even legal here. There are so many ways one can learn magic, just dueling will help you build your magic as it requires fewer spells and more what I like to call ambient magic.”

“Ambient magic?”

“Remember when you lifted that book with your magic? Magic like that isn’t something teachable, it just is a part of us spellcasters. We use our magic in our lives to help us, and dueling is a big part of that. We attack with our ambient magic, as well as spells, and we shield with ambient magic. Just imagine it, want it, and feel it, and it’ll happen. Plus, it’s a great way to practice spellcasting and become better at it.”

Morgyn looked down at the floor, “I just don’t feel like I can… do this…”

Áine put a hand on their shoulder, pulling them closer to her, “Morgyn, you just froze a Sage in a block of ice… which I still need to thaw… but, anyway, you can do this. Your magic is strong, but it won’t get any stronger without trying to better it.” Morgyn smiled, looking at her.

“Will you be there watching?”

“Of course, you’re my apprentice. I’ll be cheering you on, and I’ll make sure nothing bad happens, just trust me.”

“I…” Morgyn paused, thinking about the situation. They didn’t feel ready for this, but if Áine thought they were ready, and if she would be there to cheer them on, then, possibly, maybe, they could somehow do this… just like when they froze Evander. There was power there, their magic was still manifesting and the feeling of using spells was amazing. Finally, they met Áine’s eyes and said, “I trust you...”

~

The Dueling Grounds were connected via a teleportation gate, like everything else around the Magic Realm. Once Áine and Morgyn walked out of the portal, they took in the view of the Dueling Grounds. The portal led straight out onto a rectangular-shaped pavement with hedges surrounding the pavement. There were two lamps in the back corners of the floating island as trees and flowers surrounding the area. Minerva and Darrel were off on the left, talking together, but when Morgyn came through the gate, Darrel readied his wand. Morgyn felt their palms sweating as they swallowed hard. Áine patted them on the back, whispering, “You got this.” Before leaving to Join L. and Simeon at the back of the Dueling Grounds, near the lamps. Morgyn, shakily, walked to the right side of the grounds and took their wand out, ready to begin the duel.

“Why’d you do this, A.?” L. asked when Áine joined her and Simeon.

“I just saw their power, it’s… rather strong, but Morgyn doesn’t have enough confidence in themself, so I believe winning a duel could skyrocket their confidence, as well as help, improve their magic.”

“If they win, you mean,” Simeon muttered.

“Yes, if they win…” Áine sighed, gripping her own wand in her hands tightly as she looked at Morgyn and nobody else.

Darrel and Morgyn stood a few feet apart, wands at the read. Darrel looked calm and collected while Morgyn could only guess they looked like an anxious mess, but neither spellcaster moved nor cast anything for a few seconds after the duel began. Morgyn tried to feel the wand, the power flowing through it and them, and, just for a split second, they felt that connectedness, but it was broken as soon as Darrel moved. He waved his wand, shouting something Morgyn didn’t understand, and three magic projectiles shot at Morgyn, who dodged quickly to the left before they could hit them. Darrel, without hesitation, casting three more as Morgyn managed to duck under each of them, one barely missing their head.

“Is this what you’ve been teaching the mortal-born, Áine? How to dodge and jump around like dueling is some kind of dance?” Minerva sneered. Áine stayed silent, playing with her wand as she watched intensely.

Morgyn bit their bottom lip at Minerva’s words and decided to try to strike back by casting the only spell they knew—Chillio. They followed through the motions that Áine taught them, and pointed the wand at Darrel, “Chillio!” Ice began sprouting from the wand, but instead of flying towards Darrel, the ice began creeping up the wand and onto Morgyn’s own arms. Morgyn, shocked by this outcome, gasped out loud and began waving their arms around, trying to get the ice off. Darrel began laughing at the spectacle in front of him.

“The spell backfired…” L. mumbled, for once looking upset, “That would’ve been a nice spell to cast, too…” Áine didn’t reply, only hearing Minerva’s crackling from further away. 

Darrel shook his head at Morgyn’s attempt at a spell, stating, “Here, let me show you how—Chillio!” He waved the wand around him with precision and pointed it straight at Morgyn as freezing ice flew at them. They felt the cold hit them in the stomach, freezing their midsection in a block of ice, and, once off-balance, Darrel was able to use their magic to lift Morgyn into the air and flip them around in the air before dropping them on their back. Morgyn grunted at the blow, the ice still spreading across their body, threatening to engulf them like it did Evander. They wondered if they should just stay down, not get up, just let Darrel win… but then they heard their friends.

“Don’t give up!” It was Áine, L., and Simeon, all cheering and yelling at the same time. 

“You can do this!” 

“This ain’t a time for napping, get up and duel!”

“You're powerful, more powerful than him, embrace your power, feel it throughout all of you…”

“C’mon! Are you a Sage’s apprentice or aren’t you!?” 

Morgyn took a deep breath, as a hot heat passed through them as the ice began to melt off, and a warm glow illuminated from Morgyn. Once all the ice melted and they were free, they stood on their feet, pointing their wand straight at Darrel—the heat was still with them, almost like a flame lighting inside of them, as their fingers twitched with an eagerness to get the duel going once again.

“…Did you teach them Inferniate, too?” L. asked, watching in awe. Áine stayed silent, a small smirk spreading across her lips.

Darrel scoffed, “Should’ve just stayed down, could’ve saved yourself from some embarrassment!” He shot off three more projectiles, but this time, Morgyn stood still, closed their eyes, and thought of a shield, thinking about blocking the magic shots, and they waved their wand quickly in a shield-like shape, and an invisible barrier appeared in front of them long enough to block the shots. Their movements, their magics, everything felt stronger and more precise than ever before.

“There you go…” Áine muttered.

Morgyn, who opened their eyes, pointed their wand straight at a startled Darrel and large, burning green sparks flew from their wand at Darrel, who wasn’t ready for powerful spells to come from Morgyn’s wand as he let out a yelp when the first spark hit him square in the chest, the next hitting him in the stomach and as he staggered backward and the final spark of magic hit him hard enough to knock him onto his back. Morgyn, taking no time to wait, did what Darrel had done to them and lifted him into the air, flipping him around and throwing him onto the ground, stomach first—it was surprisingly easy for Morgyn to accomplish, and felt just like lifting that book back in Áine’s room. Smoke was coming from Darrel’s charred clothing as he laid on the ground, groaning, “Stop… stop… I’m done…”

“Darrel!” Minerva gasped, running to her fallen son. “Are you alright!?”

“Yeah, mom…” Darrel muttered, a little dazed sounding as he coughed. Morgyn walked over quickly, ignoring the uproar and celebration that his friends were causing, and offered their hand to Darrel, but the teenager just glared at Morgyn. 

“Good… duel?” Morgyn said, giving Darrel a friendly smile as his opponent stood up, dusting himself off and patting the smoking areas on his clothes.

“More like bad duel…” Darrel grumbled as Minerva went over to Áine.

“I guess… you’re right. Your apprentice is apparently very strong.”

“Thank you, Minerva, your son is and will always be an amazing spellcaster who is welcome to train with us and will do great things for our community—his magic is growing incredibly well.”

“Yes, I’m quite proud of him.”

While they spoke, Darrel grabbed Morgyn’s collar and pulled them close, “I don’t know what your pulling, but there’s no way you could’ve beaten me in a duel fair and square!” 

“Hey, back off!” Morgyn muttered, pushing Darrel away from them. “That was my magic! I felt it through the wand! I felt that… power again…” Morgyn smiled a goofy smile, amazed at what they actually accomplished and, for the first time since coming here, was beginning to feel like a full-blown spellcaster.

Darrel rolled his eyes, “A mortal-born can’t produce that much power—”

“What mortal-born are you basing this information off?” Morgyn questioned.

“Just… watch yourself!” Darrel muttered as his mother came back to him.

“Come on Darrel, let’s go home…” As they left, Áine, L., and Simeon came over to Morgyn.

“That was incredible! Your power is something else, I’d love to see what else you can do, maybe we can train together or have a friendly duel sometime?” Simeon said, patting Morgyn on the back. 

“Thank you, Simeon! That sounds like a wonderful idea, although I’m all dueled out for today.”

“Yeah, never doubted you for a second… definitely didn’t bet against you or anything.” L. smirked.

“Sure, L., sure…” Morgyn gently punched her shoulder, and she punched their shoulder back, but a lot harder, “Heh… ow…”

“I knew you could do it!” Áine said, happily, as she gave Morgyn a quick hug, a blush crossing their face as she did so. “How do you feel?” She asked as she let go off Morgyn.

“Strong… like a spellcaster… Áine, I did exactly what you said and felt my magic, it was a part of me and my thoughts.” Morgyn said, astonished, as they held their wand tightly, afraid they’d lose this feeling if they let it go.

“You did amazing, Morgyn…” Áine smiled, but that smile quickly turned into a frown when she noticed something. “Morgyn, no more magic today.” She stated, her tone-of-voice changing suddenly from cheerful to stern. This caused L., Simeon, and Morgyn to look at her curiously.

“What? I wanted to practice a little more! I’m finally starting to feel my power—I’m starting to feel like a real spellcaster!” Morgyn pleaded.

“Yeah, c’mon, Morgyn just started like, really becoming one of us!” L. piped up.

“Look at them, L.” Simeon murmured to her, and when she gazed at Morgyn her eyes widened. Morgyn had what looked like light electrical sparks coursing around them.

“Oh… yeah, Morgyn, no magic. No spells. No nothing.” L. nodded.

“What? Why?”

“You’re overcharged.” Simeon simply stated.

“Overcharged?” Morgyn tilted their head slightly, "Oh yeah, I remember you, Áine, saying something about it before..."

“Yes, overcharge is dangerous, as many great spellcasters have come to find out when... well, when they perished from casting while overcharged... which is why it is not allowed to cast while overcharged, any longer. Apparently, the overcharge you accumulated from the Rite didn't go away, and instead, you've become even more overcharged than before, a dangerous thing for any spellcaster, young or old...” Áine said, fidgeting with her wand.

“But I feel amazing Áine! And you said I won’t be getting any better at my magic without trying so—”

“I JUST SAID NO, MORGYN!” Áine shouted, causing Morgyn to flinch away from her. L. also reacted to her sudden shouting by nervously hiding behind Morgyn, and Simeon only raised an eyebrow at her. Áine turned her back to Morgyn and breathed a sigh, “Sorry… just… promise me… you won’t use magic again today….”

“I… uh…” Morgyn stammered, the words lost to them.

“Just promise…” L. whispered, still hiding behind them.

“Alright, Áine, I promise… no more magic for today.”

“Good. Um… I’m sorry for my outburst…” She turned back around to give the group a sheepish smile, but when they didn’t react positively, she scratched her head and began heading towards the portal, “I, uh, have a Sage to thaw out…” Áine muttered before disappearing through the portal.

Morgyn, L., and Simeon stood there for a few seconds. Morgyn looked rather upset as they were slightly hunched over, arms crossed, and were staring at where Áine stood, not saying a word—a drastic difference from before she yelled at them when they were smiling and almost jumping with excitement. L., who came out from hiding behind Morgyn, bit her bottom lip as she didn’t like seeing Morgyn upset, and grabbed them and Simeon by the hand and began dragging them towards the portal, “Hey, come on you two, let’s celebrate your victory Morgyn with some good old fashioned food!”

Morgyn sighed, but gave a small smile at L., “That sounds nice…”

“I’m down for food always!” Simeon said, cheering back up quickly, as the group left the Dueling Grounds, trying to forget what had happened there, for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katrus has told me that EA has officially come out with a name for Evander (which is Ethren) and Áine (which was her official name, but they changed it to Tress when they released the Sages in the Gallery). I was wondering if you all are alright with me keeping the names as they are, or if I should go back and change them to be canonically correct?  
Thank you again for the support on this fic!


	5. Chapter 5

Morgyn sat alongside Simeon in the Magic HQ’s small kitchen. L. was tending to her stew, using a ladle to pour some for the two spellcasters. The kitchen, along with the smells from the food cooking, reminded Morgyn of Earth, and, for once, they felt homesick. Of course, looking around the kitchen and seeing the many strangely colored herbs and flowers hanging on the wall and the dishes floating in the air brought them back to reality, well, a magical reality.

“Do you know when I’ll be able to go back to Earth?” They asked as they rested their head on the kitchen table, their fingers tracing the pattern imprinted on the dark wood.

L. shrugged as she brought over three bowls filled with stew, “Dunno, whenever Áine decides your ready to…”

“Yes, Áine wants to make sure you can prove your magic ability to the mortals on Earth as well as be able to defend yourself if things turn… ugly.” Simeon said, watching L. place the three bowls down, “Ah, sorry L., I prefer magically-made food instead of the old way.” He brought his wand out.

“Right… Áine…” Morgyn muttered as L. put her hands on her hips.

“Could’ve said that before I poured you some, but whatever, more for me!” She said in a cheery voice, grabbing the bowl and sliding it over to where she sat, which was to the right of Morgyn.

“Delicioso!” Simeon waved his wand in a quick motion, and a plate of delicious-looking pasta appeared on the table. Morgyn lifted their head up, their eyes finally brightening up at the use of magic, the one thing they truly enjoyed from this realm.

“Wow, you can create food out of thin air! That’s amazing—can all spellcasters do that?”

Simeon smiled at Morgyn’s excitement, “It’s really nothing, it’s not a difficult spell, not by a long shot, but uh, yeah every spell I know, other spellcasters know. Our ancestors created all of our spells out of necessity and wrote them down in tomes.” He explained as he picked the plate of food up and began to eat.

“Then why did you cook, L.?” Morgyn turned to the woman who was slurping down her stew, no utensils needed. She paused, swallowing everything in her mouth before answering—something Morgyn was thankful for.

“Well, some spellcasters made spells just to make things easier… not just for necessity, Simeon doesn’t know everything…” She sneered, and Simeon just cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Want to bet?” He asked, a sly smile spreading across his face.

“Hah… no. You know a lot, but your still young and—”

“I’m older than you.” He countered, turning back to his food, the smile on his face gone the second L. said she wasn’t interested in a bet. 

“Shut up. Point is, Morgyn, I like to cook. It’s a… mortal-y thing, I know, but… it just makes me happy, and I’m damn good at it, too! Try some!” She pushed the bowl closer to Morgyn. “I-uh, I know Áine upset you… but, a bowl of homemade hot stew can cheer anyone up everyone says!”

“You’re the only one who says that…” Simeon retorted, and L. just stuck her tongue out at him before going back to slurping her food down. “But it is important to eat, you haven’t done so in a while…”

Morgyn finally felt their stomach growl, a painful, nauseating feeling washing over them. “Huh, yeah, guess it has been a while…” They mumbled, picking the bowl up along with a spoon. They scooped some of the liquid broth and bits of vegetables, which were definitely not the vegetables they knew, some were purple, others were blue, and some were even glowing, but their hunger didn’t allow them to question the stew’s contents and instead they brought the spoon to their mouth and swallowed the stew down. Their eyes widened suddenly as they quickly took the spoon out of their mouth and began chowing down on the rest of the stew. Between bites, they managed to say, “L. this is amazing! This taste, this flavor, it’s like my mouth is having a party!”

L. smiled proudly, tilted her head up a little higher as she pushed her first bowl, which was now empty, away from her and brought the second up to her lips, “I know the herbs and veggies here like nobody else!”

“She likes cooking more than practicing her Sage duties…” Simeon said in a whisper that only Morgyn could hear, but they didn’t respond as they continued eating the food L. had made. 

Morgyn finished the stew in their bowl quickly, “Can I have some more?” They asked.

“Of course!” L. stood up swiftly, the smile on her face growing larger by the minute, “I’m really happy you like it—nobody else here eats my cooking, their all too fancy with their magic and stuff…” She hurried over to the pot of stew to pour Morgyn some more. “See? Didn’t it cheer you up?” She asked, her back turned to them, pouring more stew into the bowl.

“It did… I still just don’t understand Áine though. At times, she’s so kind, but other times? She… well, she can snap just like that… it’s… disheartening, since she’s supposed to be my mentor and someone I look up to.” Morgyn sighed, their expression dulling from remembering what happened at the Dueling Grounds.

Both Simeon and L. stayed quiet. Simeon looked down at his plate, twirling the pasta noodles around his fork, while L. brought Morgyn another bowl, sitting back down and quickly picking her bowl up to her mouth. Morgyn picked their spoon up, but their desire to eat had disappeared from the reminder of Áine and instead they just played with the vegetables swimming in the broth. Finally, Simeon broke the silence with a sigh, turning his head to gaze at Morgyn.

“Morgyn… Áine has an issue when discussing overcharge, it um, scares her.” He mumbled, “It’s not a subject she wishes to discuss, nor is it a subject she wants you to learn about…”

L. slowly took the bowl away from her mouth, “She doesn’t even want us Sages to discuss it—it’s um, taboo, and having an apprentice, well, it forces her to talk about, to warn about it…”

“I think that’s really the reason why she hasn’t gotten an apprentice yet,” Simeon added, turning back to his food.

“Why? Why does she hate overcharge so much? I barely understand it myself—I just know it’s dangerous, and I need to avoid it… but, I want to keep learning magic and I feel as though it’ll take forever while I avoid overcharge!” 

“It won’t take forever, you’ll learn how to discharge your overcharged state soon, later, when you advance in your own magics more… but, until then, avoid it, for Áine’s sake—”

“But why?” Morgyn questioned, starting to get fed up with L., Simeon, and Áine, “All anybody is doing is dodging my questions about it! I want to know why! I want to learn about it, aren’t I supposed to be learning? To become better at magic, to help mortals understand they don’t need to be afraid any longer? Yet, here I am, barely understand the one thing I’m supposedly supposed to be afraid of as a spellcaster!”

“Y-yes, but… um, Simeon…?” L. muttered, looking at the other apprentice.

“Uh, it’s just a touchy subject, I wouldn’t mess with it—”

“But why!?” Morgyn asked again, this time shouting as they slammed the bowl of stew down, causing it to splash out onto the table. L. visibly flinched while Simeon just stared at Morgyn. “It’s annoying not to know! I want to know, to get better!”

“You want to know? Fine, I'll tell you why.” Simeon answered calmly.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Simeon? Áine said not to…” L. answered back, eyes widened as she bit her lip.

“She only said that the Sages shouldn’t tell you, I’m not a Sage yet, so don’t worry—she can get mad at me all she likes, but I didn’t go against her wishes.” Simeon pointed out, causing L. to sigh and nod, turning her head to look down at the table, tapping her fingernail against the wood. Simeon looked Morgyn in the eyes, his expression unchanging as he finally answered their question; “Áine’s mentor died from overcharge right in front of her while teaching her a new spell in an overcharged state. He blew up, actually—all that was left was a charred body, blackened from the outburst of magic. When she became Sage, which was literally as soon as he died, she banished the usage of magic while in an overcharged state.”

“Exploded!?” Morgyn gasped as they clasped their hands over their own mouth. “She… saw him explode…!?” 

“Yes, and the reason why she hasn’t told you the truth beyond that overcharge can kill you is that she was afraid that you’d be too afraid to use magic again; which, hopefully, isn’t the case. We always make sure to stop you before you reach that stage.”

Morgyn withdrew their hands slowly, placing them back on the table, their skin noticeably paler as they processed what was being said, imagining Áine seeing her mentor… and what she must’ve felt at that time. “But why was he teaching her while overcharged in the first place?” Morgyn mumbled softly, almost afraid that Áine, who was still thawing Evander out, might here.

“Spells, while overcharged, become stronger versions of themselves… well, so I’ve heard, I haven’t seen a spell used by an overcharged spellcaster before… normally, spellcasters avoided that state, unless they were trying to win a duel or just didn’t know any better. We’ve lost many spellcasters because of overcharge…”

“We’ve lost more spellcasters to overcharge than to anything else, it was the number one killer until Áine outlawed it…” L. piped up, “Not even the vortex has killed that many of us.”

“Now it’s falling from brooms, isn’t it L.?”

“Hm, I believe so…”

Morgyn was drowning them out as they cupped their head in their hands, thinking to themselves; ‘Áine was just… afraid of me using overcharge? I did mention it quite a lot, and I did try to get her to teach me spells without resting or waiting in-between… so, I caused her outbursts by reminding her of her mentor’s death? I’m sorry Áine… I have to apologize to her tomorrow when she isn’t busy…’

“Hey, Morgyn…” Morgyn’s name brought them back out of their own thoughts.

“Y-yeah?” They stuttered, looking back up to see Simeon with his wand out and L. standing next to them.

“We’re going to head to bed, it’s been a long day…” She placed her hand on their shoulder, “I’d suggest you do the same.”

Simeon waved his wand, “Scrubaroo!” Suddenly, the plates disappeared, reappearing in the cupboard spot-free, and the table was completely cleaned from Morgyn’s mess.

“Yeah I just—er, bed…” They paused and shook their head when they remembered that nightmare they had last night, feeling suddenly on-edge at the thought of it. “Ugh… yeah… bed…”

“Is everything alright?” She asked.

“Yeah, I just had a bad nightmare the other night…”

“That should be expected,” Simeon answered, placing his wand back into his pocket. “A new place like this? Along with suddenly obtaining magic? Who wouldn’t have nightmares, or strange dreams?”

“Yeah, Morgyn… hm, if you want you could sleep with Simeon!” L. answered, wrapping her arm around Simeon’s shoulder and hanging onto him. “Doesn’t that sound inviting? And look at his cute face—how can one say no?” She poked his cheeks, pushing them upwards to make Simeon smile.

“H-hey L. stop that!” He tried pushing her away, but she just latched on tighter to his shoulder, pulling more at his cheeks.

“Nope! Show Morgyn that geeky smile of yours!” She snorted, laughing as he continued trying to get her to stop. At one point she managed to climb onto his shoulders, wrapping her arms around his neck and continuing to poke at his cheeks. 

Morgyn stood up and began backing away slowly from the scene in front of them, “Uh, I’m good…”

Simeon managed to snatch his wand from his pocket, “Transportalate!” He shouted, suddenly disappearing, which made L. fall to the floor on her stomach. 

“That’s cheating!!!” She shouted, her voice echoing throughout the halls of the HQ. 

“Are you, uh, alright?” Morgyn asked.

“Hm? Yeah, don’t worry about me…” She stood, “He does that a lot… well, if you’re fine by yourself, night Morgyn. If you um, do have a nightmare, you can come to me. Aunty L. will protect you!” She pointed at herself in an exaggerated matter before turning around, “Now, where’d Simeon go… Ohh, Simeon!” She called his name in a sing-song voice, almost skipping to the stairs.

Morgyn just chuckled at L.’s antics, feeling lucky that they weren’t in Simeon’s shoes; however, they that feeling was replaced quickly with uneasiness as they made their way to the bedroom that they awoke in after their transformation into a spellcaster. They felt as though tonight was going to be a rough night.


	6. Chapter 6

Morgyn opened their eyes to the swirling colors of the Magic Realm that surrounded them. The vortex was behind them, closer than ever before, threatening to split the Realm apart. Pieces of ground, wood, bricks, stone, and grass floated around Morgyn, slowly being pulled into the vortex, but some pieces of wood seemed to line up perfectly, branching upwards almost like a staircase. Morgyn stayed on their small slab of ground, staring at where the wooden planks went, but they couldn’t see; however, the vortex was closing in on them, and, reluctantly, they stepped out onto the first plank. Thankfully, it didn’t give way under their weight and, slowly, Morgyn climbed each one, step-by-step, until they reached the last wooden plank. In front was a house of some kind and Morgyn stepped off the wooden plank and onto the house’s stone staircase. The house was old, black… familiar… Morgyn approached it slowly, wondering where they remembered it from. They pulled on the doorknob and the door creaked open and fell off its hinges. As it floated away, towards the vortex, Morgyn peered inside the house and was met with nothingness. Darkness from the inside of the home began to reach out and envelop them, a cold feeling wrapping around them, chilling them to their core as they began to shiver. Finally, they remember what this was and they physically flinched. This dream, no, nightmare, the one they had before, this happened before. Morgyn took a few steps backward, rubbing their eyes, trying to wake up, when a familiar voice called out, just like the last nightmare.

“Morgyn… let it be…”

Morgyn paused as they wrapped their arms around their body, the darkness crawling up their skin, wrapping around their body as they took a step forward, back toward the house. “Let what be?”

“Let it in. Feel.”

“Feel?” Morgyn looked at the darkness, the cold, a shivering feeling scratching at them, “I feel it—it… it doesn’t feel good…” Suddenly, what felt like cold shockwaves went through their whole body, all the way down their spine. When the shockwaves paused their assault on them, the cold darkness crept its way back, “What is this!? You want me to feel this? It hurts!” They shouted, but when they didn’t get an answer they ran towards the open doorframe of the house, standing at the edge of the endless darkness in front of them, glaring within. “Did you hear me? Answer me!” Morgyn screamed out, their own voice echoing at them as they bundled their fists, “Who are you? Or… what are you?” The darkness that had wound itself around them began slinking off, the coldness leaving their body and skin as a warmth replaced it. “Why do you want me in pain? Are you torturing me on purpose? I don’t understand, but I don’t want to have this-this nightmare anymore! You hear me!? Stop it!” Morgyn called, and, suddenly, they saw a bright, orange light shine out through the darkness. They stared at it, their blonde hair whipping wildly around from the pulling of the vortex nearing them, threatening to end everything, yet, they couldn’t pull their eyes away from the light; however, a black crow flew out of the darkness right towards Morgan, who jumped from its sudden appearance, loosing their footing and falling back into the swirling vortex.

Morgyn jolted awake, sitting straight up in Áine’s bed, breaths shallow, fists balled, grasping at the bedsheets, just like last time. They glanced around wildly in the darkness before they leaped out of bed and turned all the lights on in the room, the candles lighting up the room with a warm glow as Morgyn’s shaky hands lit every single one. While hurriedly turning the candles on they stumbled over the book that Áine was reading, the same one she asked them to levitate the first day they awoke. They had pushed it off the bed and just left it on the floor, to pick up another day, but the book was a tripping hazard, so Morgyn decided to pick it up, glancing at the title as they did so. It was a tome of some sort, the title just read ‘Decursify’. Morgyn opened it up and read through the contents within but couldn’t grasp the information it was trying to portray. After about a minute of searching through the book, trying to find some sentence that made sense, Morgyn gave up and placed it back on the wardrobe where it originally was. Finally, once all the lights were on, Morgyn sat back on the bed and ran a hand through their messy bedhead hair, their skin hot to the touch. “Man, that nightmare…” Morgyn muttered as they rubbed their temples trying to ease the headache that they woke up with. They glanced outside one of the stained-glass windows, curious to see what time of day it was—the night sky of the Magic Realm was still out, and Morgyn grimaced at the fact that they must’ve not slept long at all. It came down to a decision: either to fall back asleep or stay up. Morgyn stood, looking at the bed with a longing gaze; they were tired, but they didn’t want to sleep out of fear that awful nightmare would plague their dreams once more. While thinking of something to do for the rest of the night, they took their wand out of their pocket and twirled it between their thumb and forefinger, leaning against one of the three large windows in the room. Maybe someone else was awake? But they might question why Morgyn wasn’t asleep or why they didn’t want to sleep, and then they’d have to explain their nightmare, or they’d be forced to go back to the room to get more rest, and they didn’t want that. Maybe they could sneak upstairs to the garden? But if they got caught, they’d have to explain themselves. Morgyn sighed, tapping their wand against their forehead. Maybe they could practice magic…

Morgyn’s eyes brightened up, “Yeah, I can practice magic here, in my… or, Áine’s, room. I can practice Chillio and levitation magic. They twirled their wand around more, feeling the magic flowing within, the wand becoming almost like an extension of their arm, little sparkles of magic flowing from the tip of the wand as Morgyn pointed it towards a decorative golden scale, lifting it in the air, unsteadily. When Morgyn twisted their wand around in an exaggerated motion, the scale went soaring through the air, following the tip of the wand’s movements as Morgyn made it fly around the room. At times it slowed down to a near crawl and other times it almost flew out of one of the windows, but Morgyn was pleased with themselves with the fact that they hadn’t dropped the scale and that their levitation magic was improving; just as Áine had said, this type of magic was beginning to feel natural to them.

Next, they wanted to see just how much stronger their magic had gotten and test out if they could keep the scale afloat while casting a spell such as Chillio. The scale floated beside Morgyn as they began to move their wand the way that Áine had shown them with sharp movements, meanwhile the scale teetered while they cast their spell. They pointed their wand at the ground in front of them and spoke clearly, “Chillio!” But instead of ice freezing the floor a pool of water appeared, drenching the dark wood. “What the…?” Morgyn muttered as they brought their wand down to their side and examined the puddle below them. “Water? I didn't want the ice melted, wand.” Morgyn muttered. They decided to try once more and, casting the spell again, and, much to Morgyn's chagrin, a second puddle of water appeared on the floor. “Come on—I did this before, why can’t I do it now!? Why is this so difficult! Let me get this right, just once more…” Morgyn hissed at themselves as the scale floating beside them fell to the floor with a ‘klanking' sound, but Morgyn didn't even notice as they waved their wand around again, copying Áine’s movements. This time, however, the movements were more sporadic and less refined, “Work, darn you! Chillio!” They growled, pointing toward the ground again, and, again, another puddle of water appeared, merging with the others. Morgyn gritted their teeth, standing back up from their casting position, holding their wand straight in front of their face, the wand brushing against the tip of their nose as they exhaled, trying to release the frustration that was building inside of them, but it wasn't working. “Once… more…” Their knuckles were white from holding the wand so tightly as they tried to cast the spell correctly; however, their movements weren’t precisely how Áine showed them. Instead of tight, rigid movements, Morgyn’s movements were more floaty and they smoothly, yet quickly, moved their arms around, swirling their wand as sparkles floated around them. Morgyn ended their dance-like casting by pointing their wand forward with a flick of their wrist, “Just… listen to me!” They spoke through gritted teeth, standing, legs apart, wand pointing straight forward, their jaw and shoulders tense. The ground in front of them, where they water was, didn’t have ice, nor did any more water appear, but instead a tiny flame sprouted up near the puddles and began scorching the wooden floor. Morgyn gasped, stumbling away from the rising fire as they fumbled with their wand, pointing at the flames once again and shouting, “Chillio!” Nothing appeared from their wand, not ice, not water, not even fire. “Oh, come on!” They shouted, tapping their wand against their hand, “Is this thing broken?” Morgyn sighed, glancing at the fire they created. which was growing in size.

They did the only thing they knew how to do, the only thing they knew would work one hundred percent, “Áine!!!!!!” They called out for their mentor and stood, waiting for an answer. When none returned, they opened their mouth to call out to her again, “Áin…” Their voice trailed off as they felt themselves become entranced by the flames and became unable to pull their gaze away, the light orange fire reflecting in their large green eyes. Morgyn felt their own body begin flowing, waving, with the flames. The wand in their hand seemed to resonate with the fire and the magic energy flowing from the wand through their body felt like a rush of adrenaline as their fingers rubbed against their wand and, without noticing, without forcing it, the hand that held their wand began to move on its own. It moved along with the flames as they licked upwards towards the sky, the embers that slowly fell to the ground, the flames spreading, all these movements were being coped, in a way, by Morgyn's own body. Morgyn followed the flames, allowing their body or wand or magical energy, whichever one, take over, as they copied the dance of the fire, pointing their wand out in a smooth motion and a whisper echoed throughout their ears, a feeling, a new understanding, a spell, “Infernio…” They whispered back, eyes glazed over as they pointed their wand forward at nothing in particular. Their wand, once again, produced flames, although this time they were on purpose. The new flames lit a pair of drapes on fire as Morgyn finally blinked, gaining back control over themself. Their eyes sparkled, flickering between their wand and the drapes, mouth agape with amazement. “Infernio…” They whispered to themselves, bringing their wand close to their chest, they made the connection almost immediately that this was a new spell. Their spell. “Infernio…!” They said again, louder, smiling, as Áine yanked open the bedroom door, running to Morgyn in a long black nightgown with mesh sleeves.

“Morgyn—” Her voice cut off when she noticed the wild flames in the room that were beginning to engulf more of the floor and one side of the drapes while Morgyn stood calmly in front of the fire. “Morgyn!” She yelled, rushing over to them and pulling them behind her protectively as she brought her own wand out, “Chillio!” She shouted, ice replacing the flames as steam filled the room.

“Morgyn what was that? What did you do?” She said while turning towards them, placing her hands on their shoulders, her gaze frantic as she stared at them.

Morgyn mulled an answer over, not quite sure if they understood it themselves, deciding to just answer in the simplest way they could, “I… learned a spell… on my own…”

“You WHAT!?”


	7. Chapter 7

Áine had ushered Morgyn into the main entrance of HQ before calling for the other Sages and Simeon for an impromptu meeting regarding Morgyn’s usage of a spell that they had learned on their own. It was still quite early, the “night” of the realm just beginning to disappear in favor of a lighter colored sky, therefore, the only one who was dressed in their everyday clothing was Evander. Everyone else looked as though they had just gotten out of bed and thrown on socks or slippers to come to the meeting. Even though everyone, except L., was trying to hide their sleepiness, you could still see their half-closed eyes or catch a stifled yawn here and there, except Evander, who Morgyn made sure not to look at or make eye contact with. Instead, they hid in between Áine, who was standing perfectly still, and L., who was making dramatic gestures of stretching and rubbing her eyes in her baggy long-sleeved pink shirt and legging-like pajama pants.

Áine began the meeting by cutting right to the chase, “Morgyn learned how to cast a spell all on their own—”

“Are you sure they didn’t learn it from a tome?” Evander interrupted Áine, which earned him a glare from her sharp green eyes. “Why must we jump to them being special or extraordinary—they could easily be lying to impress you, Áine.”

Morgyn kept their eyes to the ground, but every muscle in their body tensed as Evander spoke and tried to discredit Morgyn; however, they didn’t want a fight, not like last time, thus they let Áine handle it.

“Yes, I’m sure.” She muttered, disliking the fact that he was questioning both her and Morgyn, but she kept a straight face while arguing against him, “I was out in the library the whole time and there aren’t any tomes in my room.”

Morgyn glanced at her after that comment curiously, but they didn’t get a chance to speak as L.’s voice rang out.

“Eh? Why were you in the library instead of—” L. finished her sentence while yawning, “sleeping?”

“I was practicing my own magic and catching up on reading to get ready for the day that Morgyn brings magic back to the mortal world.” Áine responded, “We should be ready to showcase our spells, and our friendliness, to the humans…”

Simeon, who was standing next to Evander, hadn’t taken his eyes off Morgyn the whole time, “Really? Did you learn a spell by yourself? I… never even thought of that, I can’t believe I never thought of trying that; that, it’s, well, amazing! Teach me?” Morgyn smiled towards Evander, whose usual sullen eyes were wide and gleaming. Again, though, before Morgyn could reply, someone else spoke first.

“Enough Simeon.” Evander placed a hand on the younger man’s shoulder, the other arm behind his own back as he stood tall, “You need not learn magic by yourself. I’m certain there’s something unnatural, something dangerous, about doing so.” Evander spoke calmly, but a hint of disdain echoed through his voice. Evander caught Morgyn’s eyes before the latter turned their gaze away.

Simeon’s expression drooped as Evander spoke, his head hanging down as he slouched in response, frowning, “Yes, sir.” He muttered his response in a low tone.

“Dangerous?” Áine questioned, placing her hands on her hips, lips pursed, “I don’t think so. Morgyn seems fine, well, maybe it’s dangerous to the room. They did set it on fire.” She giggled, and Morgyn joined her, both smiling at each other.

“This is no laughing matter, Áine.” Evander chided, “I do not care how you train your apprentice but don’t give mine any crazed ideas that haven’t been tested thoroughly, else I’ll have to step in and take control.”

“I dare you to try…” Áine muttered.

“I beg your pardon? I am your elder—”

“Yet the people follow me, not you.” She responded calmly; her eyes narrowed in his direction. Evander pulled Simeon closer to him, matching her glare with his own, the tension in the room becoming sharp enough to cut it with a knife as a silence broke out.

“Um… Áine…” L. finally spoke up, breaking up the staring match, “If Morgyn can learn spells, doesn’t that mean that the process of teaching them enough magic before heading to Earth will be sped up? Between your teachings, tomes, and their own practicing, maybe we could send them sooner?”

Áine looked between Morgyn and L. “Well, maybe, but what about overcharge—”

“Áine I…” Morgyn saw from the corner of their eyes L.’s own eyes grow wide and even Simeon glanced up enough to look at Morgyn as he slowly shook his head, both fearing that Morgyn was about to bring up Áine’s past mentor. Morgyn bit their lip before continuing carefully, “I… can handle overcharge. I mean, I know not to let it get out of hand, I promise, when I start feeling overcharged, I’ll stop.”

Áine gave a small smile at Morgyn as L. breathed a small sigh, relaxing, and Simeon looking back down at the ground, “Then… yes. I believe if we both bunker down on training we can finish everything in a couple of days. I’d still prefer to watch you instead of you practicing spells on your own if that’s alright with you?”

“Of course, I’m alright with that! Especially since I can learn more spells quicker!” 

“I assume I do not get a say in this?” Evander questioned, bringing attention back onto him.

“No. You don’t. As you stated, this is my apprentice and I train them how I wish, and you train yours how you wish.” Áine responded, wrapping her own arm around Morgyn’s shoulders and pulling them close, a blush crossing their cheeks.

“Ooh yes use his words against him!" L. gasped at Áine’s remark, pressing her hands to her cheeks, smiling cheekily.

Evander sighed, shaking his head at her, “Fine. Do as you wish, but do not ask for my help when you need it. Come, Simeon.” Evander turned to leave, heading up the stairwell. Simeon sighed, giving a small wave to Morgyn and L. before following Evander, dragging his feet along the way.

“Are you any tired, Morgyn? Want to start training now? The next spell I have in mind is one you’ve been exposed to and is written in a tome; it can teach it better than I can.”

Morgyn nodded in response, “I can train now.” They were tired, but between the nightmares and the excitement of learning a new spell, sleep was the last thing they wanted.

“Can I watch?” L. asked.

“I thought you were exhausted?” The other Sage questioned.

“Nah, I woke up after you burned Evander with your sick remarks!"

“Alright then,” Áine agreed, “Let’s go change into our clothing and meet back here to begin the lesson.”

The trio arrived back at the entrance of the Magic HQ after changing out of their sleepwear. Áine went to a large bookshelf, waving her hand, a book flying out of the shelf and in front of her. “Alright Morgyn,” The book, which was floating in front of her, began flipping through its pages by itself. Morgyn peered over her shoulder, trying to read each page fast enough before the book turned to the next, a smile on their face. L. leaned against a nearby pedestal, tapping her foot as the two looked through the book. After a few moments of silence, she snapped her fingers together, causing both spellcasters to look her way.

“We need some music!” She decided loudly.

“Music? Here?” Morgyn questioned.

“Everywhere has music, I’d argue we have the best kinds of music in every Realm! Spellcasters can play multiple instruments and sing all by themselves with their magic strumming the instruments—we have many talented artists!” She spoke as she walked closer to them, “Now let’s see what we got to work with…”

“L. I don’t think—” Áine was cut off as music began flowing throughout the room from an unforeseen source. After a few seconds, Áine was bobbing her head to the smooth melody, the tome that floated near her also bobbing up and down, “Oh, I enjoy this one.”

“Nah! Boring, Áine, boring!” L. waved her hand in front of her face, shaking her head, “This is what old spellcasters listen to, you ain’t there yet!”

“It’s a classic!” Áine argued, crossing her arms in front of her to glare at the younger Sage.

“Exactly, classically old! Neeeext!” With another snap of her fingers, the music changed. The next song was a bit faster but still comparably slow to the last one. What sounded like a piano played along to the rhythmic, slow beat. “Oooh~,” L. said in a sing-songy voice, pressing herself up to Morgyn, their shoulders touching, “Romantic!” She wagged her eyebrows at them before winking. Morgyn laughed, pushing her away and stepping backward, ending up closer to Áine, who was listening deeply with closed eyes.

“This one is nice as well. Romantic… hm, it is a bit romantic sounding, isn’t it?” She looked over at Morgyn and gave them a soft smile, “What do you think?”

Morgyn watched her calm, happy expression and glanced away quickly from her gaze, hiding their reddening cheeks, “Uh… beautiful… the song is, I mean…” They muttered their response.

L. watched the exchange, a devilish grin spreading across her lips in a bat of an eye as she snickered before sticking her tongue out, pretending to gag. “Ugh… romantic-shmantic, this song sucks!” She crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling, “This playlist is lame, whose is this? Simeon’s? Actually… I think it is…” L. shrugged, “Next!” She clapped her hands together, the next song replacing the last. An upbeat song, like Earth’s pop songs, started blaring loudly as a woman’s voice began singing in a language that, at first, didn’t make sense to Morgyn, but the words began to translate quickly in their head as they began to understand what she was singing. “Perfect, at least he has one good song; let’s put this baby on repeat!” 

Áine sighed, the book dropping down slightly in the air as she facepalmed, “Of course you enjoy this one…”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Áine looked back up at L., “It’s… crude…” She said, one eyebrow raised, a look of disgust on her face.

“Really Áine, I bet you used to like songs like this before you became a Sage!”

Áine turned away from L., the book flying back up in front of her, “Nope. Never. But young Morgyn probably enjoys it.”

“I’m not that young compared to you two…” Morgyn muttered although they did enjoy the music.

L. skipped over to them and ruffled their already messy bed hair, “You’re the youngest amongst us, wittle bwaby Morgwyn!” She sneered.

“Stop that!” They snapped, pushing her hands away as they began smoothing their hair back down, L. laughing in response.

“Come now Morgyn,” The open book floated in front of them as Áine waved her hand over towards them, “Try reading this page—today, we’re going to learn ZipZap, an electric spell. You’ll remember L. used it when she met you.”

“I remember that, man that was a good joke! Totally worth learning a Tamed Magic spell just for that laugh!” L. snickered, walking away from the pair, leaving enough space so she could start dancing and mouthed the words as if she was performing to a crowd of people.

Morgyn looked at the open page as Áine watched on and L. twirled around, shaking her hips, getting into the quick rhythmic pop song. Morgyn tried hard to ignore her antics as they read on. The language was different, but still, Morgyn’s mind was able to understand the runes written on the pages. An illustration below showcased a lightning bolt shooting out from a spellcaster’s wand, and the instructions dictated how one should stand, move their wand, and cast the spell. After reading the page twice, Morgyn nodded, “I believe I’ve got it.”

Morgyn took their wand out as the book flew away from them. They followed the movement that the book had showed to them, circling the wand around them. They felt their hair begin to stand on end, static charge beginning to resonate throughout them; however, the sparks didn’t produce out of their wand when they pointed it upwards to the sky and shouted, “ZipZap!”

“Hm, nothing. Just like when you casted Chillio.” Áine tapped her chin as she evaluated them, the book floating around her. “How about when you casted Infernio?”

Morgyn pulled their wand back down, looking at her, “Infernio? No, I… I just felt it. It came naturally… Well,” Morgyn continued after a moment of thinking, “I did feel upset, angry, that I couldn’t cast Chillio correctly—that’s what I was trying to practice, at first, and then Infernio happened.”

“Then maybe you need to feel-feel it?” L. said as she stopped dancing and clasped her hands in front of her with glee, eyes sparkling with an idea.

“What?” Both Morgyn and Áine responded to her, Morgyn in a more questioning tone while Áine spoke in a deadpan tone.

“Look, just, uh…” She ran over to Morgyn, taking their hands into hers as she began pulling them along to the music. “Why don’t you feel the song? It’s electric! Fast-paced! Fun! You said infernio worked when you were angry, so now try happy or excited or… something else? You know, feel the music and feel your magic!” 

Morgyn let L. pull their arms around, only taking a few steps to keep up with her, “I-I’m not much of a dancer…” They stuttered, feeling embracement rush over them at the thought of Áine watching them try to dance.

“Meh, neither am I, but it’s fun and might help, can’t hurt to try at least!” L. let go of their hands and began dancing by herself as Morgyn watched her. It was easy for her to say that, as she had heard the song before and knew how to dance just a little more than they did. The song just finished and began again from the start, the quick beat dictating L.’s movements as Morgyn continued to stand awkwardly and gawk at her.

“L., I don’t know if this is going to work. A normal learning environment is important to withhold.” Áine spoke as the book floated back to the nearby bookshelf with a flick of her hand. She took a step towards Morgyn, “Let’s try the movements again, shall we?”

“I think that’s be—” Morgyn got cut off as L. grabbed both Morgyn and Áine, taking one of their hand into her own, and she began to spin them in a circle.

“Come on, just try you sour butts!” L. grumbled, her cheeriness disappearing fast with Morgyn’s and Áine’s noncompliance. “Don't forget that I'm a Sage as well...”

Morgyn stumbled along as she forced the two of them to move faster and faster. Somehow, Áine was keeping pace with L., not stumbling once as her footwork was quick and clearly showed that she had danced before. “C’mon Áine, take their hand!” L. commanded, “You always go on about how I should be more invested into the Sage life...” Áine sighed, reaching over to grab Morgyn’s hand, making a complete circle between the three of them as they continued to spin around wildly. 

“I highly doubt this is helpful at all…” Even though Áine tried to dismiss L.’s scheme, her face betrayed her, a smile etched on her lips and she was spinning without the need of L. pulling her.

Morgyn felt their cheeks burn with a blush as soon as Áine took hold of their hand, feeling her smooth palm against their own. They stole glances at Áine, L.’s laughter coming back to her as the room filled with her loud giggles and, soon, Morgyn and Áine joined in. After a while of spinning and twirling together, L. let go of both their hands, standing away, watching, as Áine and Morgyn came together. Áine was still smiling and laughing, taking Morgyn’s hand in her now empty one. Morgyn looked at her, wide-eyed and stunned by the turn of events as Áine danced with them alone. For Morgyn, it was like everything around them had disappeared and all that was left was them and Áine.

“I-I don’t dance…” They managed to stumble out, their mouth agape, eyes wide, palms sweaty.

“It’s alright, follow my lead,” Áine said, taking control of the dance. 

Their dance was fast-paced, the two of them moving around each other, Morgyn trying to not step on her foot, Áine not caring if they did. She gently pulled their hands in the direction that she wanted them to go and they followed suit, their footwork clumsy compared to her clean strides and sharp turns; however, Morgyn’s worry was washed away by enjoyment as the two finished their dance, the song coming to a powerful end as the two stood close together, holding hands, their faces near each other, both out of breath. Áine looked the happiest that she had ever been since Morgyn met her. As for Morgyn, their face was bright red from both the dancing and the closeness to their crush. It was electrifying to feel her so near, to feel the rush of adrenaline coursing through them along with their own magic.

“Now Morgyn! Try casting the spell!” L. called, bringing Morgyn back to reality, the world around them coming back into view. She let go of their hands, something which they didn’t want, but they gripped their wand in their hand and followed the movements that were shown to them, swirling their wand around as the book said, feeling static charge build-up before being released when they pointed their wand up in the air, a bolt of lightning appearing from the tip.

“I knew it! I knew you could do it—with my help, of course!” L. shouted over the pop music that had started playing once again.

“Hm…” Áine spoke to herself, watching as L. tackled Morgyn in a hug, cheering about how strong and quick a learner they were, “Looks like we’ll be going back to Earth sooner than I thought…” Her smile left her face as worry replaced it, her shoulders slouching down as she closed her eyes, “I hope everything goes well that day for Morgyn, I don’t think they know how much of our livelihood rests on their shoulders…”

“Did you see Áine? I did it! I... I did it!” Morgyn asked, freeing themself from L.’s arms. The electric charge and adrenaline both beginning to drain from them. They clenched their eyes shut and opened their mouth wide to let out an electrically gleeful yell of excitement. 

Áine opened her eyes, a small, sad smile appearing on her face, “I saw Morgyn… I saw.”


	8. Chapter 8

Morgyn decided to continue to stay up, even though as the day went on their yawns became more frequent and larger. Morgyn continued practicing their three spells on their own volition, wanting to try to get better at casting them. Chillio was still the most difficult spell for them to cast, while Infernio was the easiest, and ZipZap was somewhere in between hard and easy. Furthermore, the importance of emotion influenced their ability to cast their spells more effectively, but they couldn’t necessarily force themself to become angry, excited, or upset, but as the music continued to play in the background (thankfully though it wasn’t the same song after some persuasion from Áine to L.) they felt that energetic pulse of the electronica-pop music affecting their ZipZap spell, which was less of a spark and more like a lightning bolt. Áine kept a close eye on them, making sure they never got close to becoming overcharged, but the apprentice level spells didn't cause much overcharge as her own spells or as a duel did. L. came and went, bored of watching Morgyn work hard, but also intrigued to see their magic, but she was working on something herself and said very little to the two Tamed Spellcasters. Eventually, Áine clapped her hands together and Morgyn turned their attention towards her.

“Morgyn, I think you’re ready.” 

“Ready for what?” They asked in return, walking closer to her.

“Ready to go back to Earth.”

A mixture of emotions hit Morgyn—obviously, they were excited to go back to the place they grew up, even if they didn’t remember any memories from their childhood, they still missed certain aspects of Earth, from the blue sky to the green grass and the normalcy of the place, but they were also nervous, unsure if they were ready for the trip back.

“But, I uh, am I ready? I don’t really know what to do and I only know three spells and I still can barely cast Chillio…”

“You’re going to show those mortals your magic and show them that we spellcasters are to return to their Realm, not as a danger, but to live amongst them. We will send you through the portal, back to Glimmerbrook, the place you entered the Magic Realm at, and there is where I hope to see—” Morgyn felt a dazed feeling drift over them, as Áine’s words were drowned out by a cloudiness they felt in their head. Suddenly, their surroundings turned pink and red in color, and Áine looked at them with wide eyes, her lips moving, but the words not making any sense to Morgyn. She brought her hands up to Morgyn's shoulders, head tilted, as she continued to try to talk to them. Suddenly, as if their body was moving on their own, Morgyn wrapped their arms around Áine in a hug and they pressed their lips against hers. Her hands, still on their shoulders, quickly pushed them away, causing them to stagger backward as her hands came up to her lips, her eyes wide with shock as Morgyn began blinking quickly, the pinks and reds fading as the colors went back to normal, the cloudiness in their brain clearing as they watched in a bewildered state Áine race away from them.

Finally, having their senses back and control of their body, Morgyn held a hand up, trying to stop her, “Wait! Áine I don’t—” They sighed, as she was already gone before they could get a word out. Their mind was rushing with thoughts of what just happened, what compelled them to do such a thing, the weird feeling that had washed over them...

Suddenly, Morgyn heard clapping behind them, and they turned around slowly to see L. standing there, a large smile on her face. “Congratulations Morgyn, that looked like such a nice kiss!”

Morgyn walked over to her, rubbing the back of their head, “L., I don’t understand what just happened? Everything got so weird and I lost control and… I kissed her. Without any lead-up or warning. Am I sick? Am I getting sick? What’s wrong—”

“Well, yeah, that’s what the spell is supposed to do.” She said nonchalantly. "You're supposed to kiss her."

It took Morgyn a few seconds to register what she had just said, “Wha… spell? What are you…?”

“Hm? Infatuate? Oh, right, you’ve never heard of it since Áine’s teaching you her school of magic. It’s a special spell in the Mischief branch!”

Morgyn stared at her, bewildered, “You’re saying that… you… you caused this?” Their voice was cracking, panic rising in their stomach, their eyes darting around the room as they tried desperately to make sense of the situation.

“Yeah, I’ve been watching you interact with her and all that cutesy flirty stuff and just thought I’d give you two a little… you know, push! Your relationship, I mean, Infatuate causes one person, of my choosing, to kiss another!” She reached a finger over to Morgyn’s lips, wiping them in a quickly as she turned her finger to show them the green on it, “Look, her lipstick was left on your lips! How cute!” She giggled.

Morgyn’s mouth was agape and they couldn’t believe their ears as they brought their arm up to wipe the green lipstick away, “I… I thought you were my friend!?” They finally shouted, causing L.’s smile to quickly turn to a frown as her pink eyebrows furrowed together.

“I am? That’s why I helped you, duh?” She answered back, crossing her arms in front of her “Why are you yelling at me?”

“Because, L., that wasn’t helping anybody! You forced me to kiss her, without her asking, without her consent, without mine! That's bad L., very bad! You forced her… our relationship, to... oh cr... you probably ruined it, any chance of it! Of her and I! I can’t believe you did this to us!” Morgyn yelled back as L. placed her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at Morgyn, confused anger showing on her face as she looked as though she didn't understand their rage. 

“What are you talking about? I helped move your relationship along!” She replied back, her own voice rising to match theirs.

“You did no such thing! You don’t just move from a small crush to an instant kiss! That isn’t how this works!” Morgyn placed their hands on their head, rubbing their fingers through their hair, trying to calm down, as they began pacing in front of L., their panic still rising.

“I was only trying to help! What’s wrong with that!?” She shouted, watching them walk back and forth.

“You didn’t help! And your help wasn’t needed or appreciated! I can’t believe you, I… I don’t even know what to say to you, anymore… I don’t want to say anything to you…” Morgyn’s voice came down from a yell to a broken, scratchy tone, as they held back tears.

L., on the other hand, had tears welling up in her eyes, unable to hide them, “I… I didn't mean to hurt you, I didn't mean for this, I... I'm sorry I—”

“You can’t apologize for this, you… messed everything up…” Morgyn mumbled before turning away from her, running towards the door that went to the outside of the HQ to try to find Áine. Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw Simeon heading down the stairs, glancing at Morgyn before going to L., who was sobbing loudly now.

“It’ll be alright, L.” Morgyn heard Simeon say in a soft tone, trying to comfort his friend as Morgyn barreled through the front doors of the HQ. Thankfully, Áine hadn’t gone far, as they noticed her leaning against the portal’s archways, looking down at the ground, her hair covering her face. Morgyn walked over to her slowly, stopping right in front of her, their hands fidgeting in front of their body as they looked from her to the ground, unsure of what to say.

“Áine… I didn’t mean, I didn’t… do that, i-it was L. and her magic and… I mean, I…” They laughed, a strained, nervous laugh, their voice cracking with emotion. They stayed silent for a moment as Morgyn breathed a deep sigh, walking over to the other archway and leaning against it, the two standing almost side-by-side, neither looking at the other, "I... I'll admit the kiss... I... I wanted to do that, but later, way later, when I confessed to you because I l-like you and..."

“I know Morgyn.” She finally spoke, her voice surprisingly calm as she glanced up at the sky. Morgyn watched her from the corner of their eye, glancing up at the sky as well, a deep purple and blue setting upon the both of them. It would be nice if not for the situation they found themselves in.

“You know… about… what?” They asked in a whisper, although they didn't want to hear the answer, afraid of it, afraid of what she had to say; however, there was no way out of this.

“I know L. did this, and I know about your crush on me…” She glanced over at them, a tired expression on her face. Morgyn wondered, had she always looked that tired? But their thoughts went away when she smiled a smile that made their heart flutter, “You were kind of obvious about it.”

“Uh… yeah, I uh… I suck at hiding crushes or flirting or anything…” Morgyn muttered, and Áine shook her head.

“Don’t say that you don’t suck, you're brilliant Morgyn Ember. It’s just… I’m sorry, I should’ve addressed it sooner, then, maybe we could’ve…” She gestured with her hands between the two of them, "prevented all of this.”

“So…” Morgyn muttered, afraid to speak, but their body told them to continue, to not leave it at this. “You’ve thought of this before? I wanted to address it, I just didn't know when… what do you… think? I mean, can we maybe—”

“No, Morgyn, I don’t feel the same way as you do. Let's end it with that, shall we? There... isn't much else to say about the matter, really, without this conversation becoming awkward and sorrowful. I just don't share your feelings, and I doubt I ever will, because I don't see you that way, I don't... see you as a romantic partner, but an apprentice.” She stated bluntly as she stood up straight and walked over to Morgyn as their head fell, their gaze on the ground beneath their feet. She held out a small blue crystal, “You can use this crystal to come back to the Magic Realm quicker than having to use the portal and it will allow us Sages to listen and see what is happening on Earth. Tomorrow I expect you to head there and perform your spells and we wish to see the reactions that everyone has to your magic so we can gauge how ready the mortals are for our return.” Morgyn took the crystal, their hand shaking and their head hanging low, not looking Áine in the eyes. “This mission is important, so please be ready for it and try to get some sleep… I know everything has been... wild.” She paused, looking at them with a sullen gaze as she reached a hand up and placed it on their shoulder, but Morgyn shrugged her off, and she sighed, “I’m sorry that this happened, L. will be reprimanded… I expect great things from you tomorrow, Morgyn.” With that, Áine walked away from the sulking spellcaster, who collapsed down to their knees, sitting on the ground, the Realm swirling slowly above them, yet time felt as though it stopped for Morgyn.

“This… let this be another nightmare.” They muttered, placing their face into their hands, but they didn’t awaken, and they knew that this was reality, that this was going to happen, that Áine, through all their flirting and obvious feelings, didn’t return their feelings, but their heart wanted to cling to the possibility that this wasn’t real, that she did like them, that she was good at hiding her feelings, that she was good at lying, that L. messed everything up. It was easy to blame her, but they knew that even though she just made things move a little quicker between the two spellcasters that this was going to be the end result regardless. Finally, after a few minutes of crying by themself, of time barely moving, Morgyn took a deep breath in, standing up, fists clenched, eyes red, “I still have a mission, even if Áine… I… I still need to focus on helping the spellcasters here…” They began walking back to the HQ slowly, the halls now empty, no one in sight. They stopped in front of Áine’s room, hand on the door handle, as they backed away, deciding they couldn't sleep there tonight, that it was too much for them. Instead, they went to one of the many sofas in the library, lying down on it, surrounded by dusty books and spells, the place becoming less like home by the minute. “Those nightmares are preferable to this… hell that I’m in.” They muttered to themself, as they drifted off to sleep, ready to embrace the strangeness of the nightmares.


	9. Chapter 9

When Morgyn’s eyes opened, the Vortex swirled just behind them. Planks floated in the air, being drawn towards the Vortex, and some land further above them had what looked like stairs. Morgyn, unable to stay where they stood, began heading upward. Their thoughts were foggy, but everything felt oddly familiar. As they stepped up onto the short staircase, an old home stood in front of them, and their memory of the dream—or nightmare—came to them. 

“This again…” They muttered, looking around, “Well, this time I’m all right with it, with this, it feels more comfortable than life does.” Morgyn sat down, leaning against the broken house, staring out into the swirling Vortex. “I just want to give up and… stop.” Morgyn muttered, pulling their knees up to them, hiding their face against them.

“Do not give up Morgyn Ember.” A whisper echoed throughout the nightmare, a cold feeling embracing Morgyn as they glanced down at themself. They hadn’t opened the door to the house, so the shadows weren’t wrapped around them, but still, there was an eeriness hanging in the air.

“Why shouldn’t I?” They asked back, looking down at their hands, “I’m a spellcaster, but my spells come about from emotions only. My mentor, the one I fell for, turned me down, my friend betrayed me, everything is falling apart and soon I’m supposed to go to the human world and try to show them that spellcasters are real and not a threat? I’m not… I’m not even a spellcaster!” Morgyn shouted out into the nothingness, working through their problems to the core of what was bothering them, what had always been bothering them.

“But you are, you’re the strongest of us all.”

“What lies you speak.” Morgyn scoffed, the cold taking more of their body as they curled up further, “I’m a fake.”

“There is no such thing.” 

Morgyn sighed, “Show yourself at the very least if you wish to have a conversation with me!” They threw their arms out, and as soon as they did, an inky black crow, landed on their right shoulder, causing Morgyn to jump, the coldness rushing away from them. “Y-you…?”

“Yes, Morgyn.” The crow answered back, its eyes glossy and somehow both void and knowledgeable looking.

“You’re a bird—”

“I am here.”

“But… what do you know about—”

“Spellcasters? Much. I used to be one, before my demise, before I became my Familiar in this afterlife, of some kind. I have brought these nightmares to you, for you to understand that you are powerful, Morgyn, and you must not give up.”

“Are you the one giving me these nightmares!” Morgyn snapped at the crow as it stared back, not answering their question.

“You must continue to grow. To learn. To know.”

“I am!” Morgyn replied, sliding their legs down to be flush against the dirt underneath, “I am, I’m trying, I just don’t know—”

“Not knowing is half the battle.”

Morgyn stayed quiet for a few seconds, “Why? Why must I keep trying?”

“We need you. There is something brewing in the background, a plot that puts everyone, spellcaster and human alike, in danger.”

“Can you stop being vague with all these threatening poetics and… ugh,” Morgyn breathed deeply, looking away from the bird and out into the Vortex which was approaching them. “I’m supposed to help them? Are you sure that I’m not… a fake, I guess?”

“Look at me.”

Reluctantly, Morgyn turned their head towards them, and the bird pressed its forehead against Morgyn’s, their third eye, and Morgyn’s eyes glazed over, a vast amount of knowledge spreading throughout their mind, runes, writing, spells, incantations, potions. The crow’s voice echoed, “This is all your own knowledge and power, untapped potential. You are no less than any other spellcaster, but you are more… sleep if you need guidance from me again, young Morgyn… Morgyn…”

“Morgyn.” Simeon’s voice woke Morgyn up from his sleep, the spellcaster sitting up from the couch they were laying on. “Today’s the big day, are you ready?”

Morgyn stared straight ahead, eyes still glossed over, the power at their fingertips, a new understanding of themself unlocked. Finally, they blinked, narrowing their eyes, “I’m ready.”


End file.
